From The Ashes
by RowanMoon
Summary: *Sequel* Must read Broken Doll first to understand mythology and plot progression. Bella rises from the ashes as the Golden Eyed Queen after her victory over the Volturi to find her journey to complete her destiny has only just begun. AU Supernatural
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N – Thanks to frol, my amazing ficwife and beta. Thanks also to Gasaway Alley, Twiliteaddict and Viridis73 for pre-reading and showing me where the holes were. **_

_**Thanks especially to those of you that read and reviewed Broken Doll, which has been nominated for "Best Supernatural" in The Silent Tear Awards. Voting is up until June 20. I would be lying if I said I didn't want your vote...but check out the other amazing stories too! Please see my profile for the link to the voting site.**_

_**From Chapter 29 "Broken Doll"**_

_Xandru turned to Aro. Hate boiling in his eyes and rippling across iron skin. My great uncle smiled, reaching out, putting his hands tightly around Aro's neck. In an instant, the vampire Lord jolted with the unexpected Judas kiss of Xandru's impeccable deceit flashing him all the images he was denied for centuries. _

_"How dare you betray me? I gave you eternal life! Power! You were my left hand!"_

_A terrible roar ripped from Aro, he threw his head back, violently connecting with Carlisle, knocking him to the ground. As Carlisle scrambled to his feet, Aro swung a crushing two handed blow to Xandru's chest, the mighty crack as he made contact rang in my ears as I watched my uncle fly through the air, landing in a large burning pyre... _

**X****POV (Xandru****POV)**

The irony of my death being delivered in the form of conflagration was not lost on me. My deceit was born in fire, and so it would end. I cheated my execution to be burned at the stake when stolen away by the Volturi. I cheated mortality when I burned through the change.

I'm sure Lachesis is eying my steel strand smiling; "Third time is the charm." sliding over her tongue.

As licks of flame bit into my flesh, death undeniably imminent, I gathered my last reserves of strength to take what was mine down with me; my sister - if there was anything left of her within that demon who called itself Jane.

I could search those cold claret eyes that looked so much like my own until the end of time, and never find Ioana's reflection within. My beloved twin was gone. Whomever said blood was thicker than water, knew not of the sociopathic nature of a vampire with no ties or memories of their humanity. She was a cold killer, nurtured by Aro's poisonous politics, and the pirated blood of innocents.

In my weakest moments, I envied her ignorance of her human life, the knowledge she was innocent once; with no internal demons to slay, she atoned for nothing. I spent centuries beneath the stinging rusty barbs of shame for the bloody and immoral acts executed to keep my illusion intact.

For over three centuries, I was two beings; I was Xandru, brother to Ioana and Leda, the last of the Striga line whom I was sworn to protect. I was the keeper of The Scriptures of Aesa, and my destiny was to make sure the Volturi were brought to their knees as foreseen by one of the most powerful witches of our line - Adrastea. To achieve this, my existence as a vampire was a masquerade as Alec, Aro's prize pet, second only to my twin Jane. I gripped the edge of depravity's abyss when my vampire nature was indulged for show; for survival. The carnality of the bloodlust, the head-swelling power of dominance over whole armies of feral newborns with nothing but a thought whispered from my lips; it was inebriating. Like all deadly highs, coming down was a razor sharp lesson in guilt for which I bled copiously.

Did the end justify the means? All the lies I told, the lives I took...and yet, I force my burning body forward to take one more.

As I approached her from behind, I had just enough strength left to wrap arms aflame around my stunned twin, dragging her into a blazing pyre so that we would leave this world the way we came into it...together.

Jane was immobilized; her shrieks piercing the din of battle announcing the shift of victory passing back to my great niece Bella and her family; The Cullens and The La Push Pack. With a roar that would wake the Titans, Bella burst open the deepest veins of her power and exploded into furious apocalyptic beauty. Propelling herself to the heavens, she filled the zenith of the night sky with her transmogrification into a Phoenix of Fire who would deliver a dire brimstone judgement upon the scattering remnants of Aro's great army. My grip tightened on the burning body of my sister, our flesh melting from our titanium bones. I could not help but smile as I watched Bella plummet like a meteor to the earth; the keening screech of her descent like a banshee's victory cry.

Ashes to Ashes.

These hungry flames were but a tender kiss compared to the incendiary hell endured when I transformed into vampire. Freeze-frames of my existence, mortal and immortal alike, panned before my mind's eye. A macabre movie of my dual existence as monster and mage. Jekyll and Hyde.

Did my sacrifice outweigh my sins?

When I look back on the centuries spent with the Volturi, if it wasn't for my Sire, Eleazar , I would have gone mad. He alone was my compass, my companion, my Brother. He knew all my secrets, and I his. This secret bond with him kept the loneliness of my situation from eating me alive and leaving a demon in its wake. As I began my journey into the afterlife, my last thoughts were of my time with him and the important role he played in helping me fulfill my own destiny.

Our communion was wrought on the day he brought me over from man-child to monster...

The year was 1785 and my family had congregated to perform a Wiccan rite of passage for my older sister Leda. At the very height of the ceremony, when the Goddess placed her blessings upon Leda, the flickering of torches announced the arrival of very angry self righteous townspeople. They did not understand our ways. Accused us of being in league with demons and other ignorant mutterings about our magic being the seed of evil. Their fear and suspicion tainted the air with an oily angry tension that coated us all with thick panic. We tried to flee, but we were herded, captured and heralded as heretics and witches.

Leda was the only one who had not been caught in all the confusion. I caught a flash of red hair sinking into the deep cleft of the Great Oak as chaos reigned. She hid herself from the skirmish amongst our most precious, sacred relics.

Marched through town in a chain gang of rope with bayonets waving threateningly alongside, my entire family was pelted with rotten food and foul curses by the onlookers. Coming to an end at Town Hall, judgement was swift, and we were all to burn at the stake three days hence., but those three days were not a reprieve by any means. Our jailers were sadistic low-lifes who got off on our humiliation and terror.

After being tortured mercilessly, listening to the screams of my twin and cousins being violated and beaten, I was wretched with fear and despair. On the day of our execution, yet another holy man entered my cell to save a soul that did not belong to their God. His robes identified him as a Bishop from the Vatican, but his presence sent prickles of warning along my skin shouting, _Impostor!_

The moment his cowled hood was thrown back from his head, I knew this was not a man of the cloth...let alone a man. This was a Moroi that stood before me. Vampire. His eyes were shocking red, like wet rubies, taking my measure as I cowered in the corner of my cell, a broken disheveled heap. Recoiling, I pressed my back against the wall of dirty damp stones, and whispered a prayer to my Goddess. His beauty stunned and disoriented me, I could do nothing but stare at his god-like features; shoulder length black hair, pulled back tightly from the face in a leather thong, thick-set brows arched slightly, emphasizing an exotic aristocratic air. A finely trimmed goatee set off the hard masculine angles of his handsome face. Despite being a deadly predator of human blood, he smiled, and I actually found genuine kindness there. Empathy even. A rumbling, heavily accented, voice filled the dank cell, the words sounding eerily similar to the utterances the men of the cloth had given me; except he offered not salvation...but destiny_._

"Be not afraid Xandru. I come to set you back on the course of your destiny."

In a blink he moved closer to me, his eyes intensely assessing more than just my vulnerable mortal form. I felt the ghostly fingers of power pick and prod along my aura, looking for the mechanics of my own burgeoning powers. I had barely the energy to fight back and shield myself. Appearing satisfied when I was finally able to block his attempts at reading me psychically, he stepped back and bowed in courtesy before me. My mouth went dry as sand, the energy it took to call forth my mental and emotional shields exhausting.

"You will not be executed this day. Your destiny, Xandru of the Striga, is to come with me to help us find what was lost."

"Destiny?" I scoffed. "What could you know of my destiny, _vampire_?" For all I knew he could be Volturi. Given my ancestry, they were the only vampire coven who might have interest enough in me, and I cautioned myself..this could be a trap. I desperately wanted out of my situation, but to what end? Out of the frying pan into the fire?

His lips pursed as his hands reached for the hem of his cassock, and pulled it up to his waist. Fearing what was about to happen, I shrank back, Ioana's violations fresh on my mind. But the vampire put up a hand to stay my anxiety. Beneath his priestly robes he fumbled with the waistband of his pants pulling it aside to reveal a heavily muscled abdomen and a small circular tattoo on his hip bone. It was a Celtic rendition of a snake swallowing it's own tail.

My breath left me in a rush, my heart galloping after it.

"It's the Ourosboros symbol. I know you've seen it before," he said softly. I recognized the ancient glyph immediately. My father bore the exact same tattoo proudly on his chest. Despite the Sahara parked in my mouth, I began to sweat profusely as the knock of destiny pounded my heart into a frenzy.

Had my father known him? Was this salvation?

_"Who are you?_" I whispered.

"My name is Eleazar Morales. I am a member of the same society your father Ulfgar belonged to; The Brotherhood of the Eternal Return. I have been placed within the Volturi Guard as a spy."

"The Volturi?" dizziness swept through me like a tempest, cold sweat beaded on my forehead as I realized the gravity of my situation. "Consort, help us."

The Volturi were deadly, devious dictators who believed in a disturbing version of Arianism . Their belief hailed vampires as the most superior of the supernatural. Humans didn't need to know who they were until it was time to glut on their blood. The Striga had long been hunted by these mad monsters given we had three strikes against us. We were human, with supernatural abilities and last but not least, our powerful ancestor Adrastea had cursed the Volturi to meet their end by one of our descendants.

The Brotherhood's main directive was to protect the Striga bloodline, in particular the women as they were the vessel to bear The Legacy that would take down the Volturi. I had no idea there were members within the Brotherhood who were vampires, but then again, it was the only possible cover for anyone who would dare enter the Volturi den as a spy. He deserved my trust, yet, I couldn't help but wonder...why was he here for me? What about the women?

"What about my mother? My sister?"

Sadness pooled in his eyes. He righted his suit and said brusquely, "There's no time to explain."

"Where are they?" I demanded through gritted teeth.

With a heavy sigh he delivered the answer I was loathe to hear, "Your mother is to be burned within hours Your sister will be taken by a Volturi Guard named Felix this afternoon. Aro wants to change you both and make you his own." Eleazar's lips set in a firm line. "Xandru, there is no time. I must take you now before they come to get you for the execution."

"No! Please, there must be something you can do for them. Leave me. Take them to safety while you can. This can't be our fate!" 

_My mother...burned...Ioana and I? Changed? _

Fate was all my race knew, our stories and legends were saturated with prophecies, which set the course of destiny for our entire race. My culture demanded I accept what comes.

But this...both of us changed into vampires? Misery seeped around the edges of shock as one painful fact stood front and center; From what we knew of transforming into vampires as young as we were, it was very difficult for the human memories to remain after the change.

"If my twin and I are changed, we won't remember our pasts! Each other!"

"I can help you through the change if I do it myself, make sure you remember who you really are to prepare for the tasks to come."

"Which would be?"

"Your duty to your bloodline and the Brotherhood.

"My duty is to my family! I was always led to believe that above all things, the Brotherhood protected the family line."

"You will be protecting the family line...just not your twin or your mother. There is another..."

"Leda? You have news of Leda?"

"All we know about Leda at the moment is that she escaped and managed to avoid being caught by the Volturi guard sent to collect you three children. As a vampire you will be immortal Xandru, you will have centuries to find Leda or her progeny should she have any, not to mention, the resources of the Volturi at your fingertips...there is no better place to be for this task than behind enemy lines."

The hot sting of tears blurred my vision. I was flayed to the bone at the thought of losing my family and my humanity. The sharp edge of my lack of options cut deep

Live and avenge them or die alongside them?

My mother would be lost to me, but Eleazar had a very good point; going with him and allowing him to guide me through the change was the best option on the table for making sure Ioana was protected within the belly of the Beast, and that Leda was never found.

Could I be my sister's keeper even if she had no memory of our blood tie? It was not even a question of would. I would kick at the darkness until it bled sunlight for her, but the thought of her not knowing me was devastating.

"You are sure there is no other way?"

"I'm sorry son, this was the best I could manage for you."

His shoulders rounded, regret wearing heavy on his preternatural frame.

"Will I become a member of the Brotherhood if I my human memories survive the change?"

Being initiated into the secrets of the Brotherhood was my birth right, and right now I was being tested as no other initiate before me. Eleazar crouched down in front of me and placed a hand on my shoulder, luminous red eyes peering intently into mine.

"You will be that and so much more. You can trust in me to guide you and help you navigate our purpose..._your_ purpose. When you were a small boy, your father came to me and asked me to look after you should anything happen to him. You have an important part to play within the Brotherhood, Xandru. Please...do not make me go back on the oath I have given, I am sworn to protect you and this is the only way."

"All right," I sighed softly. Looking up at him I saw relief ghost across his face and blossom into hope. With great difficulty I attempted to stand, only to fall to the ground again. "How are you going to get me out of here if I can't even stand, let alone walk?"

"I'll carry you."

"But the guards..."

"They won't see you if I don't want them to. I have certain...abilities." His mouth quirked in a half smile. "I was chosen by the Brotherhood as a spy for good reason. I'm only seen when I want to be."

The tender care he took as he reached down to pick me up put me at ease. Cradled against his cold hard chest, with the cassock covering my body, I relinquished my doubts that we could pull off this escape, and closed my eyes in sorrowful resignation to my fate.

Eleazar carried my body to him as if I were weightless, and within mere moments , we were out of doors; the light of day lightly filtering through the fabric I was concealed under. Nausea, dehydration, and the rush from the break-neck speed we traveled caused me to lose consciousness. The velocity was such that the remainder of the journey was spent in and out of lucidity due to my sorry, battered state.

When we finally stopped, I felt him lower me to a soft bed. The yielding comfort of the bed drove the nails of my crucifying discomfort in deeper. My body was tormented with pain from the various dislocations, contusions and broken bones.

I begged him for death.

His answer was eternal life, delivered with a searing chemical burn, flushing through my veins as he infused his venom into my body. I was crazed, cauterized from my humanity from the inside out; my bones forged into steel, my organs seized, rendered inert and impotent as I was baptized by fire. Yet through it all, Eleazar remained. He whispered prayers in strange tongues over my body, spoke to me using my birth name, assuaging me with stories about my people and the Brotherhood. He alone helped bridge the gap of what I was, to what I would become. Looking back on it now, it astounds me he was able to pull it off, risking so much to see me through.

My Sire's abilities put him in a very favored position within Aro's Guard. Eleazar's job was to discern a human or vampire's latent supernatural skills. He explained to me Aro's obsession with finding , capturing, and changing humans with extraordinary talents; such as telekinesis, mind control, and shielding. The victims were then brainwashed into joining the Guard after being turned into vampires. Imagine how tempting this made Ioana and I to Aro. His contrivance was to mold us in his evil image, thereby adding us to his collection of powerful supernatural underlings.

In his blind arrogance, Aro was not aware Eleazar could not only discern abilities, but he could block them. As my powers revolved around mind control, he in turn taught me how to block Aro from the thoughts which revealed my true nature.

The very first chance I had to get away from the Volturi compound was spent retrieving the holy Scriptures of Aesa . These time-worn codices had been passed down generation after generation for over a millennium.

They documented that prior to 500 AD, the Striga were the allies of the Moroi and Pricolici of Romania. The triumvirate was disbanded involuntarily when the Volturi attacked the Romanian kingdom, but the great Striga witch, Adrastea, cursed the Volturi; prophesied their end by One of wolf, witch and vampire blood. Aesa, the twin of Adrastea bore witness to these events and kept record of it in the Scripture so we could prepare for the _Three That Become One_. This Scripture would be key in helping me to destroy the Volturi.

Within the codices I discovered the original curse referred to the coming of a Queen with golden eyes who was descended from our line, and that of the Pricolici. Astonishingly, this descendant would also be a vampire; "_Three become One, all three she becomes.._" I wondered if Aro believed in turning Ioana, he was keeping this prophesied nemesis under his control. I now understood why he favored her so. He wanted the bond strong to control her.

It wasn't until I discovered the second mention of the Golden Eyed Queen written in an appendix of the codice, that I realized the possibility of Leda making it to safety was not hope made in vain. The last information given to the Volturi of her whereabouts was she had been lost at sea as the boat never made it to port.

The entry was in my father's handwriting. The same Ourosboros glyph tattooed on his flesh was finely drawn at the top of the small passage. My hands shook as I peered down at the words scrawled with difficulty by my father's large calloused hands.

_Aesa came to me in a dream. Told me Leda's great-granddaughter would be the One. She gave me these words to place in her scripture;_

_From ash she will arise_

_with wings that no longer fly_

_the Queen with the Golden eyes._

_For her there is one course_

_Born to protect The Source_

_The foundation must be shaken_

_before she can awaken_

_and devour The Forsaken_.

I took it to Eleazar immediately. As he read the words, his face puckered like a man working on a complicated puzzle. After his third read of the passage, he smiled brightly and told me it was time for me to learn the initiated secrets of the Brotherhood that I had been waiting patiently for.

He began by teaching me the secret handshake with which I could recognize any of the brothers the world over. Then he told me he would answer any question I might have about the Brotherhood and it's purpose.

"How long have vampires been a part of the Brotherhood?"

His eyes held a twinkle and a laugh skipped across his lips, "It's more like how long have the Striga been a part of the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood of the Eternal Return is actually an ancient group of vampire priests who serve The Source, a goddess of Creation."

"How do the Striga fit in with your band of priests if we worship other goddesses and serve by protecting our own?"

"Long ago, The Source lost her champion, her protector. He was stolen from her. So she needed a new one. A renown Seer told her there would be born among the Striga a queen with golden eyes who would be the strongest witch of their line, powerful enough to bring down that which seeks to end Creation.

The Striga Brothers, such as your father, were inducted into the Brotherhood to make the oath to safeguard the women of their line, for it is through them, the Golden Eyed Queen would be born."

My last question made goosebumps pop along my flesh.

"What would a powerful goddess of Creation...need protection from?" I barely whispered.

I will never forget the cold vacant look in Eleazar's eyes. He couldn't look at me when he said her name. I wish I hadn't heard it.

"The Forsaken. But you would know her as...Sulpicia. Aro's wife."

At that moment, my world shifted into sharp clarity. There was a huge spider within this web. Sulpicia was no fan of mine, I had always assumed she was heavy handed in her jealousy of Aro's attention on Jane and I. Given how powerful she must be, she was being polite. We represented for her, a painful visual reminder of the very bloodline prophesied to keep her away from the one thing she wanted more than anything: The Source.

Eleazar explained to me that Sulpicia was the true power behind the Volturi, the reason he was sent to spy on them; to make sure she did not find The Source. As the last surviving male of the Striga line, it was my job to find the Golden Eyed Queen. To that end, Eleazar set me up with the Romanian Coven, even though he thought it was a long shot, as the Roms had very little luck in finding out anything about Striga ensuing our Exodus from Romania.

After three centuries of searching, the long shot paid off when the Romanians were contacted by Carlisle Cullen. He lived with his golden eyed Coven in the Pacific North West of America. His son Edward had a human girlfriend named Isabella Swan who came into the possession of a Book of Shadows which bore the Romanian Royal Seal. The grimoire was none other than my sister Leda's, who had bequeathed it to her great granddaughter. The Legacy. Leda had survived the shipwreck after all. Fate had pushed her across the waves of the ocean into the arms of a descendant of Taha Aki - the Pricolici!

Fate smiled upon me. Or should I say, coldly smirked?

Caius, in his relentless pursuit of the Children of The Moon, found these same descendants of Taha Aki. He convinced Aro to make a move to eliminate them and the Cullens. Aro wanted Eleazar questioned about all of the members of the coven since he was close friends with Carlisle. I decided I could kill two birds with one stone, and since I needed an excuse to get off the compound, I volunteered to go question the now-retired Guard, and get to Isabella before Aro did. The Romanians had already convinced her to let me train her. She was barely aware of her ancestry, uncontrolled in her abilities, but she held the promise of great power.

I had hope.

The Cullens have golden eyes...she would be one of them some day.

The Golden Eyed Queen found at last...the question was, would she be ready to deflect the evil that wanted her powers for themselves?

Aro was amassing the entire guard to kill her whole family. What if he discovered who she actually was? The Romanians said the resemblance to the twins Aesa and Adrastea was downright spooky. From them, that was quite a statement.

Before I left for Forks Washington, I sought Eleazar's counsel one last time. I wanted to discuss how much should be revealed to Bella; she was still so new to her powers, and would be going up against two of the most sinister generals ever to walk the earth in Aro and Caius, this confrontation could be pure suicide. I had such little time to hone her skills, I worried telling her about her role as Golden Eyed Queen and what to expect in Sulpicia as an adversary would frighten her into catatonia. Eleazar agreed it was best not to tell her about Sulpicia just yet, that the odds stacked against my great niece were overwhelming at best.

Yet, she overcame them. She was magnificent in her vengeance upon Aro's immortal army.

Melting into ruin and ash, I left this earthly plane with a heavy weight of trepidation for Bella. I should never have doubted her ability to survive. I should have...

Warned her.

Prepared her.

Although the formidable fence of the Volturi Guard surrounding Sulpicia had been eliminated, she was now exposed and devious acts of desperation would ensue. The fallout Bella will face after the dust of battle settles will be swift and merciless for Sulpicia was legendary in her ruthlessness. 

All I could do was pray as I passed unto the Fade;

_Great Goddess, _

_We beseech thee to protect Bella and her kin_

_As The Forsaken will strike hard and true_

_When she discovers _

_The Golden Eyed Queen has come,_

_when Three become One._

_Show her the way as she rises..._

_from the ashes._


	2. Chapter 2

This is going to be a hell of an author's note so...

To start, I would like to offer my apologies for this chapter taking so damn long. Summer came and went in a haze of humid heat, debilitating back trouble, (which had me laid up for months) vacations, family visits, firing and hiring homecare for my grandmother, autism therapy and finally, transitioning my sweet boy into kindergarten. This chapter was also difficult to write as there was a certain way I wanted to present it, but "how" eluded me, I was tangled up in tenses and tripping over timelines.

With herculean efforts of editing and support from Twiliteaddict and Gasaway Alley, I would slog away, picking it up and making a stab at it when I could. They always cleaned up the crime scene without complaint. Viridis73, frol and Minna Koda were terrific pre-readers and very encouraging. Writing is lonely. Most times you feel like you are all alone, but my little coven of talented writers pushed me through. Thank you ladies from the bottom of my toes to the tips of my fingers. I couldn't have done this without you all.

Thanks to my new validation beta angelicwish. Most importantly, thanks to my readers for their patience!

* * *

Chapter 2

There was a time when I didn't dream.

My dreams left me the day my vampire love did. Edward Cullen left me in the woods when I was eighteen with the devastating lie he did not want me. A part of me died that day. The part that was joy, passion and purpose. I was a hollowed out husk of the person I used to be, a broken doll with a thousand yard stare. Sleepwalking through the next nine years of my life, I married my childhood friend Jacob and settled into complacency.

I was never meant to be complacent.

I didn't know it then, but I was meant to run with Legends.

I didn't know a lot of things then. I didn't know Edward never really left. I didn't know Jacob knew he was there all along. I didn't know Edward was my _imprinted mate. _My destiny. It was not much wonder I was so stricken when Edward left, my soul truly was cleaved in two with his absence.

I didn't know anything about who I truly was and meant to be until I started dreaming again.

The dreams began in earnest when I was finally reunited with Edward whom I found stagnating in a deserted cabin deep in the woods behind my house. Love returned like Spring showers, soaking the dry, dessicated earth of my soul; awakening something very powerful within me. In a moment of crisis, to protect Edward from being killed by an enraged, jealous Jacob, I instinctively manifested my latent powers to save him.

It turns out I was descended from a long line of witches and shape-shifters. True ancestral magic courses through my veins - a very powerful blend of magics.

Magics powerful enough to call down lightening and nearly strike Jacob dead when I discovered that I had been lied to about Edward. But that was just the beginning of the betrayal. Jacob had known my true heritage; that I was descended from a very ancient and revered line of Striga witches through my matriarchal line and shape-shifters through the patriarchal line, tracing back to the great Taha Aki himself.

Even my father had lied through the sin of omission by not telling me about our ancestry; keeping me from my Grandmama Marie who would have told me everything she knew when she was alive. Death took her when I was very young, but she came back to me when the dreams did. With her careful spiritual guidance I learned how to Dreamwalk; to lift the veils and walk between the worlds of dreaming and waking, jumping through time like it was a schoolyard game of double dutch.

From my great uncle Xandru, also known as Alec of the Volturi, I learned I was prophesied to bring down the evil coven who governed the vampire world, who were the lethal enemy of Striga and Shifters. Aro, Caius and Marcus would have stopped at nothing to eradicate every supernatural being who did not bow down before them and they had their sights set on my families, both wolf and vampire. Xandru worked with me to harness my magics and helped us stage a coup when the Volturi arrived en masse to murder my loved ones.

Riding a riptide of great power siphoned from Mother Earth and the spirits of my ancestors, I awakened my shifter roots, transmogrifying into a Phoenix of Fire; bringing down an entire army of Volturi vampires with supernal flame to protect my loved ones and fulfill Adrastea's prophecy.

My final display of power nearly turned me into a sacrificial lamb as my human vessel was too weak to survive the flames of retribution delivered upon my enemies. Edward saved me, braving the hell fires I had created to get to my broken, burned body, and infused me with his venom to bring on the change. With the last vestiges of my power, I partitioned my mind to free it from the horror of the carnage that was my charred flesh knitting itself back together with the restorative necromancy of Edward's venom. With my conscious mind tucked safely away, I escaped into a dreamworld to avoid the dreaded intensity, the burning agonies of my change into vampire;

In this dreamworld I was running...

Running so fast I felt like I was flying.

Running from the soot in the air, the cremated bones of my enemies beneath my feet, into a lush forest dreamworld...

_Electricity charged the air, warning of the approach of a cleansing storm. Above the __canopy of trees, the deadly beauty of the darkening sky boiled and rolled with twilight hues, dusk creeping in with inked fingertips, bruising the edges with midnight blues. It was a beautiful, dark oasis where I felt alive, pain free. Most importantly, Edward ran beside me in the gloaming._

_Forever frozen at seventeen, his beauty knew no bounds. A face that would make Michelangelo weep, stole glances at me, elation and love crowding the amber depths of his eyes. He ran in a strong but graceful lope beside me, his sleek, chiseled lines of taut masculine power stirring up those hot twinges of primal possessiveness and need deep within my belly._

_Silently, we kept running, chasing the edge of midnight into daybreak and back again - the stretch of time between night and day passing quickly in a fluid rhythm. Our otherworldly surroundings must have finally punctured the blinds of Edward's joy in me being alive. Breaking his stride, his eyes clouded over, the brilliant smile faltered and he stopped abruptly. _

_Grabbing and pulling me into his embrace he crushed me to him. I could smell the crisp bite of wind in his hair, taste his sweet beguiling scent enveloping me like a preying incubus intent on seducing me. Burrowing into his chest I sighed with relief as his body pressed against mine. My rock, my anchor. _

_My Sire. _

_"It's happening!" he exclaimed in hushed awe._

_I looked down at my arms, the veins turning golden beneath pale iridescent skin which caught the light in winks and shimmers._

_"My venom is changing you Bella." His eyes darkened slightly, regret wavering for a flicker of a second as he looked down. Thunder rolled in the distance._

_"I almost lost you," he whispered, tucking into the curve of my neck, placing apologetic kisses there. _

_My heart no longer beat for him, yet I felt it's ghostly thrum. His venom rushed like coolant through my veins, changing me into a stronger, better being than I was before. _

_What was I?_

_Witch. Shifter. _

_Vampire._

_Three Become One. _

_"It's okay, Edward, it is the only way for us to be together, after all, I was dying." His arms tightened around my body, wrapping me in a net of security. Even in this netherworld his touch sent waves of excitement to the core of me._

_"You are right. I couldn't bear losing you." _

_Holding me in his strong embrace he let out a sigh, muttering my name reverently over and over as he stroked my hair. Pulling back, his eyes left mine just long enough to examine our surroundings with a more critical eye as all around us the view began to change. The panoramic setting of the forest began slipping away like a sidewalk chalk drawing on a rainy day, the trees melting like diluted watercolors before reforming into an impressionist version of our beloved meadow._

_"What is this place?" he whispered reverently. "Is this heaven? Are we truly...dead?"_

_Somehow, I knew this was not death or a final resting place - I knew only the most valuable parts of ourselves resided in this plane while our bodies lay in stasis back on the earthly plane._

_Realization struck me hard and I beamed, _

_"You DO have a soul. It's the only way you could follow me here. It's the imprint...our souls are entangled, fused together for Eternity. There is no place of existence that could ever separate us." _

As our souls took refuge in that _In Between _place, our bodies on the Earthly plane awaited our return. There, I was nearly blind and immobile as my body healed. The bones and organs that had been shattered and pulverized upon impact were mending, hardening into timeless marble. My skin, hair and nails regrew at an alarming rate. Edward lay next to me, curled protectively around my body, still as stone in suspended animation within our frozen opaque womb. Within that tightly enclosed space, my body went through the most traumatic metamorphosis of it's existence, with Edward as my sentinel. We had little concern for our bodies' claustrophobic confines since our minds could stretch and roam the dreamlike expanse of the _In Between_.

_We are Air._

~/~

In the hollow stillness of our earthly confines, Edward and I spoke telepathically to each other with ease. There was a connection that could not be broken independent of any plane of existence simply because I wished it so. My newly acquired ability to read his mind enabled me to be privy to our surroundings in the physical plane where I was nothing but a vulnerable transubstantiate pupae.

Edward's first question was laced with trepidation for the answer,

_"Are you in any pain?"_

I expected burning with the change yet, there were no razing, rusty needles of piercing agony. No burning. Perhaps Fate decided I had burned enough.

We had all burned enough.

Too much of my ancestral blood had boiled dry on the spit, stake and pyre. The Volturi had chased my kin through the halls of time hiding behind the skirts of Christianity, delivering biased judgment with the napalm of The Inquisition. Turning the tables, it was I who lit the last fire, and now the entire Volturi army lay in ash and ruin outside our icy tomb. I burned them all, hundreds of vampire souls snuffed out. I was Death.

Karma is a bitch, and I was her unrestrained ire.

I carried no guilt for the lives I took in defending my loved ones, and I _never_ will.

_"No, it doesn't hurt at all, love," _I whispered to him, feeling peace for the first time in months.

~/~

Alice was the first voice Edward heard. Pained. Small.

"They're over here! Oh God... Jasper, hurry."

Our family was quickly assembled; anxious sentries around us, Carlisle and Jasper stepped up to the edge of our crystalline encasement, their shadows looming over our space. Their voices sounded slightly muffled as they pushed through the thick barrier of ice.

"I can feel 'em alright. They're just fine everybody, so ease up on the tension, I can't handle y'all with Alice so..." he trailed off, his concern mounting. "Alice, darlin' are you alright?"

"I...I'm sorry, I'll be fine, it's just, too much all at once, she must be going through the change...I can see..., I can see so much now, I can hardly makes sense of anything."

"Why are they covered in ice?" Emmett asked.

Jasper slapped his hand upon our glacial cocoon like an affectionate pat given to a favorite horse.

"It's gotta be Bella's doin'. Probably to protect them from the heat while she went through the change. They didn't make it far from the blaze...Edward just got to her in time. The earth is completely scorched in every direction around them."

"This entire field is a char-pit wasteland. Our girl here packs quite a punch." The respect and admiration in Emmett's voice was palpable. My soul flared with pride.

"We need to get them out of here. Take them someplace safe." Carlisle's voice was thin and drawn. For the first time I actually believed he was over 400 years old.

Esme's voice softly directed the family to take an edge and pick us up to transport back to the house.

That's when my body went through it's first spasm of brutal pain.

An excruciatingly cold lick of electricity shot through me, the intensely frigid sting akin to frostbite bloomed painfully then dissipated slowly into the aching cold numbness from the frozen block of mass surrounding us. As my physical self reeled in shock and agony, my mind again sought refuge in the _In Between_, but there was no escaping the omnipotent powers of Creation;

_As I cowered in Edward's embrace, the soft light in our meadow darkened, - our world became very quiet, still as death. A brutal blast of wind rode in like a banshee and tore him from me, his features etched with surprise, hands clawing, reaching desperately as he was blown backwards by the magical mistral. Lightening flashed out of the sky, striking me in the chest, the electrifying current a voltaic connection harnessing me to the menacing storm cloud which was filling the sky. Brilliant bursts of blue and silver light strobed and pulsed within that terrible tempest like a heartbeat, seemingly transforming it into a living, breathing beast of dark light and shadow. Forcing its brutal electric kiss of power upon me, the raping gale of unfiltered, powerful magics devoured me whole. Primitive energy raged and roiled, seeking out remnants of my humanity, ripping it apart and reforming into something ageless...endless. I was Creation. I was Chaos. The power I was being infused with was completely different from the power I wielded as human. It was wild. Fathomless. It had secrets it wasn't ready to tell me yet, and even if it tried, I don't know if I could've handled what it had to say. My paradigms were shifting painfully._

_Instinctively I fought against the surges at first, the demanding undertow of immortality pushing me to evolve into something much, much more powerful than a vampire. I felt like a kite tossed about in a violent wind; but I had a very long string. At the end of that string I pictured Edward. I steeled myself. My anchor would never let me go. He would ground me._

_We are Earth._

_Images flooded my field of vision; a terrifying female creature with fangs and leonine eyes bathed herself in a river of blood; a wild red haired woman stood before the Volturi brothers, chanting in a strange language before Aro ripped her head from her body. Hundreds of fierce warriors, shirtless, screaming, covered in blue paint - runes and symbols crudely drawn across their bodies were running into a thick mist to fight a foe they could not see. Their brave war cries morphed into screams of terror as the mist swallowed them._

_I screamed with them._

_The electric connection then broke as violently as it came, and Edward was instantly there, catching me. My screams still echoed in the air around us as he held me tightly to him, rocking and crying softly into my hair. _

The gentle sway of Edward's hold on me in the In Between melted into the smooth lope of our family carrying our icy casket home. For the first time, I felt fear.

_What exactly was I becoming? _

_~/~_

I did my best to curb the pain the change was putting me through by visualizing tantamount control over it on both planes. In the celestial, the ferocious bite of the lightening was less vicious if I focused on channeling the painful charges of power overloading my system into tests of endurance; sharpening and pushing my mental stamina to it's limit. I thought of myself as a bottomless vessel, hollowed out and shaped to receive all that was meant to be given.

In the physical, my body remained perfectly still despite the spastic surges of pain ripping through me. I had yet to even crack the ice in our casket. I was especially proud of that. I doubt it was simply a high pain tolerance though; I had a feeling the magic I used to create the encapsulation of ice around us would hold true until I was ready to shake off its protective layer.

My mind's eye pictured Edward lying still as stone next to me, his mouth unmoving, eyes fixed. Through him I could clearly hear the noises of our physical surroundings. We were being transported in some type of vehicle. Wheels hummed, turning over the road beneath us, a low monotonous chant of sound. The occasional rock or crack in the pavement caused a skip in the record, the needle seamlessly righting itself to continue playing the same toneless drone. Silently I asked Edward where we were going. How strange it was that his voice resounded so perfectly in my mind, the precise feel of him a memory burned into my soul that summoned as strongly on the celestial plane as the physical;

_"They are moving us to Denali. They are worried you will be...too much for just us to handle." We were standing on a sharp cliff overlooking a vast indigo ocean in the In Between. _

_"I guess I should expect that considering it turns out I'm not your average human." I turned into him. Electricity arced, surged like Tesla's coil between my outstretched fingertips as I ran one lightly along the softness of his lower lip, I then tipped his chin, kissing him deeply - riding the edge of pleasure and pain. He whispered into my mouth breathlessly before our kiss spun out and deepened_,

_"Striga blood or not, you could never be considered "average" Bella." _

_Edward's aura surged with an intense burst of need, flaring brilliant golds, and oranges. A warm blast of heat covered me, the ardent fires of Edward's love was my oasis of comfort from the cold depths of pain and fear._

_Soul to soul, breath to breath, body melding to body, we plummeted into the depths of our passion as if we jumped over the very cliff we had been standing upon. Laying me down in the soft moss, his hands roamed over my body, bringing it alive with want. Thunder seemed to resonate from Edward's chest when he growled; pushing, needing, taking whatever I had to offer. Lightning launched from the sky once more, only to hit a flaming field of resistance around us. _

In the dark cube van, while the miles slipped away from Forks to Denali, the ice crackled, whining pitifully for a split second before tiny branching shoots splintered across our enchanted frozen enclosure.

_We are Fire._

~/~

Snuffling, sniffing and a few rude snorting sounds reverberated through the perimeter of our space before I came to the conscious realization of what Edward was telepathically showing me; - _Jacob and Leah! _

Their large lupine shadows paced around us a few times. I wanted desperately to scratch away the ice that separated us and tell him I was alright. I wanted to ask about the rest of the pack and how they fared after the battle, but it was not time.

"This is the last time I help you move Bella." Jacob joked awkwardly after he shifted back to human form. Leah shimmered, shrunk and straightened alongside him. Her arm swung out and nailed him hard in the shoulder.

Jacob grumbled a fake "Ow" then sobered quickly and clammed up. It was so Jacob to hide his anxiety behind humor, then brood darkly if the humor didn't work. I knew of course he would fear for my well being but I never gave myself time to think about it. Experiencing it was a lesson in guilt and regret for making those I loved worry for me, feel pain because of me. Edward told me to look at the bigger picture; Jacob and Leah came through the battle unscathed and would be together as it was meant to be. Before Jacob's brooding silence could taint the air like a bad stink, Leah surprised us all by speaking up for him in an earnest and hushed tone, as if she were talking to my tomb in a cemetery;

"Everyone made it through the battle Bella. Not one life was lost. I was never so proud to be a part of this pack. Sam and I seemed to suffer the worst with a few broken ribs, and everyone else had only slashes and gashes which healed have healed overnight."

I could picture her fidgeting in the quiet of my inability to answer. I imagined her cheeks were colored and she probably mentally kicked herself a few times for talking to a block of ice with vampires inside. A large part of me rejoiced in how far Leah had come in regards to how she felt about the Cullens. The fact that she was talking to me so openly in front of them was incredulous. I was probably the only female friend Leah ever had, yet even growing up our relationship had been fraught with difficulty. She was always rather guarded with me, tough and full of sassy sarcasm. Her soft center was revealed in her strong connection to Jacob and her family, in her constant worry that I would break his heart time and time again. Which I did. It seems all of my transgressions were forgiven when her and Jacob's imprint could finally take hold like it was meant to, once the curse Leda had placed upon Ephraim Black's line was lifted.

"That was one hell of a fight Iz. You are in our legends now." She hesitated before continuing, "Jacob wanted..."

"...to make sure you wake up okay." Jacob interrupted. His voice was thready as he struggled for control to get his words out, "It was hard to watch you burn up like that, Bells." His sincerity made my heart heavy as I recalled with bittersweet nostalgia the boy who was my best friend growing up, and the man who was never meant to be my lover - but he tried anyway, even when I shut myself down and crawled into the depths of despair after Edward left. "I hope...I hope you aren't feeling any more pain." His large warm palm came to rest on our icy casket, searing a three dimensional brand of his hand print into the ice. The tiny drips of the melting flow had hit the wooden floor in a steady staccato rhythm.

Jacob had risked so much in helping us bring down the Volturi; his pack, his imprinted mate...his very life. That I didn't consider the effect my death could have had on him made me feel selfish and sad. I had been so wrapped up in saving our families and trying to figure out my new powers, I had given no thought to what would happen if we failed, if Edward couldn't get to me on time to change me. Failure simply wasn't an option. I had also given no thought to what I would be like after my change. I knew this bothered Jacob almost as much as it bothered me. Would I still be the same Bella? I knew I would be different...how could I not be considering...but how much of the Bella Jacob grew up with would have be lost when I was finished becoming...whatever I was becoming? Would I be able to control myself and still remain, _me_? As I was pulled under by the riptide of my melancholy and trepidation about the aftermath of my change, Edward's connection to me tightened, keeping me afloat. Buoyed.

_We are Water._

To help ease the waves of pain which continued to ravage me, I would meditate upon the secure comfort of being surrounded by family and friends who anxiously awaited my awakening. Their love and positive energy never left us, a beacon of hope in a perfect storm of change. I was protected. Sheltered. All that could be done now was to wait for the storm to pass.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - This chapter takes us to Volterra, two days after the Great War. I have done it in third person as I wanted to try something different and take a page from James Patterson's book(s) and write my villain solely in this POV. I like the idea of the reader "seeing" The Big Bad but not "knowing" them. Y'all REALLY don't want to be in Sulpicia's head as she's scary enough on the outside..I simply couldn't go there! I'd need an aura cleansing after each writing session with her! Here's hoping the POV change works the way I want it to. If not...~shrugs~ isn't life and art about taking risks?**

**Many thanks to my newly recruited beta Twiliteaddict. She is an amazing editor and has her own beautiful stories posted here on and Twilighted. Thanks also to Gasaway Alley for pre-reading and pointing out some trouble spots and giving me her love and fist pumping support! **

**Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and all it's fanfare, and I'm pretty sure she owns me as I love to play with her toys and spin worlds within webs aplenty. **

**This Thanksgiving I'm thanking Stephanie for ALLOWING us to play with her characters and do fantastic things with them. Close your eyes and imagine fellow Twihards. What if SM did not allow fanfiction for Twilight?**

**~faints~**

**We would never have met, and I've come to love a very special little group of you. Thank you SM for bringing these women in my life. **

* * *

_**Volterra Compound, Italy**_

_**Two days after The Great War**_

Striding purposefully through the front doors of the Volturi compound, Santiago was met at the front desk by a frantic Gianna. The phones were ringing off the hook, and the poor girl was swamped. Completely panicked, her eyes were ravaged red from crying as she placed another post it note to her desk blotter, which was completely covered with the little yellow squares.

"Scuza me Signor Santiago, but...what the hell is going on?" Gianna hung up the phone and walked around the desk to him in very expensive couture shoes.

Santiago sighed with resignation, he truly had much more pressing matters to attend to in his Mistress's quarters; she was no doubt waiting for him, and the news he had to give - news he still had a hard time processing himself.

Pulling a tight smile across his flawless Mediterranean features, he addressed the young human acolyte, his iron clad patience a fleeting facade he now had to fake. He truly believed Gianna to be a lovely woman, and being a personal favorite of his certainly influenced his decision to try and save her since he could not save himself. The stars in her eyes blinded her when it came to his race, and it was time to bring forth the dawn of realization that the Volterra Compound was the last place she should be.

"Gianna, how about you forward all calls to voice mail and go home, child. This is no place for you anymore."

"I don't... I don't understand...I went home Friday and everything was fine. I come back today and the phones are ringing off the hook. Mostly the mates of the Guard wondering where..."

Santiago spoke to the woman as if he was speaking to a small child, "Yes, well you see, there has been...an unfortunate accident." Taking her by the shoulders, he led her back to her chair where he picked up her bag and expensive Pashmina and handed them to her gently.

"An accident?" her face blanched, and her body tightened like an animal on alert.

"Just go home Gianna. You will be fully compensated with a severance package ...and if you value your life, you will not come back."

"But...I was promised..." Hysteria danced around the edges of her tone.

Santiago's smile dropped. His tone hardened to cold steel as he steered the confused human to the front door.

"Things are different now, be glad you were given the opportunity to walk away."

Gianna's eyes widened in fear, her natural instincts finally kicking in. She turned on her impossibly high heels, and clicked away as fast as her shapely legs would carry her. Santiago sighed, watching her skitter away, wishing he could be so lucky - then proceeded onward to his dreaded destination.

The hallway was deathly quiet but for the footfalls of a few servants here and there. He smoothed his fine silk designer suit for the tenth time, annoyed with the nervous human gesture as he headed for the great stone stairwell that led down into Sulpicia's private chambers. His infamous bravado hadn't made an appearance since he left Washington after spying on Aro and his precious Guard for Sulpicia. He never fathomed the possibility he would be coming back to tell her they were all destroyed.

The Volturi figureheads were obliterated and _her_ covert reign over the Vampire Race was in peril.

Sulpicia was going to rain down hell - what that witchling did to the Volturi in Washington would look like a sun shower comparatively.

Santiago knew something strange was going on when Sulpicia insisted the Brothers take the entire Guard to acquire or eliminate one coven and a small pack of dogs. At the time, he couldn't figure out if the order was outlandish overkill, or simply a "shock and awe" technique. They always did as she was ordered, and questioning her command was _never _advisable.

He figured spying on the assured victory would be one of the easier assignments given to him-until he arrived in the sleepy town of Forks, and witnessed one of the most terrifying battles he had ever seen.

The Volturi Guard in its full compliment was supposed to be an unstoppable juggernaut, yet now they were nothing but burnt slag strewn about in a field across the oceans.

He shivered with the technicolor memory of the Great War which took place on that sandy battlefield. Hundreds of immortal beings met their end in ravenous, cursed flames. He could not believe the carnage.

He had also never seen true shifters before. When they leapt through the ringed wall of fire, they charged, tearing and ripping; deadly as Cerebus protecting the gates of hell. However, the wolves were but playful puppies compared to that witchling, Bella - who was more powerful than anyone expected. Aro's first mistake was underestimating her, and Santiago wondered grimly if Sulpicia would do the same. He doubted his Mistress would take foolish chances considering this was no mere witch. Thousands of generations had come and gone in waiting for this one; The Golden Eyed Queen. Sulpicia's prophesied nemesis.

With every steel strand of his immortal being, Santiago battled the cold dread creeping across his body as he approached to Sulpicia's quarters. He would rather nail his nut-sac to the floor and take off at a dead run than give her the news he was burdened to bring. The weight of the cliché line, _"don't shoot the messenger"_, clanged around in his gut like sharp, rusty iron. Arriving at the top of the stairs, he peered down, down, down into the darkness. The ancient stone steps spiraled all the way to the bottom in the Fibonacci sequential perfection its stone mason had intended.

The closer he came to the lowermost landing, the more he felt like he was descending into the depths of hell itself.

Perhaps he was.

Her office was to the right of the corridor, but he knew exactly where she would want to meet him, and it would not be there.

She would want to be in a place of power, and for her, this would be the room she affectionately referred to as the _Oubliette_. Santiago had only been in there many times over the years, and would certainly rather forget them. The first time was his training session with her twenty nine years ago. After enduring months of torture and degradation of the most horrific varieties, he left the room knowing only one thing- he was hers. He did whatever she asked without question and in return he was her silent left hand for decades.

His prestigious, yet clandestine position had made Santiago feel quite smug his Mistress confided in him things unknown to her mate and political puppet, Aro. But now he was dead, and Santiago was bitter about dealing with the aftermath of the Volturi's failure due to arrogance. Why should he suffer for Aro's failure? His fear rolled into outrage and back again in a lurching flash of emotion.

Upon entering the large room, Santiago was blasted with a depth of cold that even he could feel pricking along his diamond hard flesh. The blackness of the walls sharpened the dark bite of the atmosphere. Made of highly polished black marble, the walls reflected every movement in the room. Sulpicia liked to watch herself and those unlucky enough to be in the room with her.

Not even fire could warm this room, a large, black-bricked fire pit burned low in the middle of the room; blue flames casting an eerie wash of purple shadow everywhere. Torches hissed and spit curses at those who entered from their sconces in the wall. His Mistress cared not for the bright glare of fluorescence, preferring fire over filament always. The size of the whole apartment itself was staggering - about the size of a football field, but most of it was storage space for...livestock. Over a thousand square feet of the front end of the space was her "play" and work area. Mistress loved to experiment with blood magics, and what better room to do it in than a torture chamber?

Santiago walked briskly past a surgical steel table with leather restraints, shivering at his own memories on it's warmth sucking surface, which gleamed even in the low light. It looked so sterile. So clean. A few drops of water sparkled and winked under the firelight. The cleaning crew had just been through, but the entire room was still heavy with the spicy copper scent of blood. They could clean it away but it was always there, a delicious siren of need hanging in the air. He could taste it on his tongue, feel it plunging him into the depths of bloodlust and unhinged wanting.

Garbled moans drifted from across the far end of the room. Santiago could make out the magical invocations Sulpicia's mages used to unlock the magically-enforced chains used to subdue the newborns. Mistress relished in the resilience of a freshly made Newborn. If she wanted, she could torture them for years before she would grow tired of them. They also still still bled brilliant red - a perk she enjoyed lasciviously. One of Santiago's first jobs for her was securing and filling her supply of playthings. He shivered at the memory of the vivid pools of crimson Newborns spilt copiously from their bodies. Rivers of blood she would bathe in; from boot to neck, she would be clad in blood-red leather, so the splatter would never show on her.

Taking a knee in front of the raised dais, as he'd been trained, Santiago surveyed with wary trepidation Sulpicia's prize collection of torturous tools on the back wall; his eyes scanning fearfully for the dreaded bottle with the strange glyphs. It was the most terrifying tool in her arsenal. Used only in times of extreme ire and madness.

_It was not there! _

He warred between being scared and relieved; relieved it was not there considering the news he was charged and bound to deliver; scared because it was ALWAYS there. Where was it? Was she about to use it on him? Or even more frightening still, _did Sulpicia know it was missing?_ Pushing past it, locking it down and tugging on the padlock once then twice, Santiago reasoned he had bigger things to worry about than how she was going to torture him.

Diminutive feet slapped wetly against the floor, a suctioning sticky sound as she approached. He lowered his eyes to the floor, Sulpicia's blood-soaked bare feet came into view against the shiny black marble in front of him. He raked his eyes up to her knee, daring not to go any further as it would require lifting his bowed head.

He already knew. She would be completely naked.

This would not bode well. Santiago jostled for a feel of his Mistress's mood. Sulpicia's bloodlust was unparalleled. Torturing, begetting blood and pain, was her way of letting off steam. A macabre art to say the very least. But when she bathed in it, reveling carnally by wearing it like a second skin, she was at her most dangerous. It was a high for her. Her mood afterwards was charged with insane amounts of power which could turn volatile as she was so emotionally erratic; impulsive and unpredictable. Capable of crumbling into mad recklessness if not handled properly. Santiago learned one thing about handling her properly. Give her what she wants no matter what the cost.

Her unseen glare burned into his skin, leaving a brand of shame and submission as her power radiated hotly between them. He kept his head lowered, even through the tremors of unshakable desire to lick the sweet sticky blood from her feet. Everything in her demeanor demanded subservience. Ancient to the point of being alien, his Mistress did not look a day over twenty years of age. Long believed to be a goddess of an ancient pantheon, no one, save Lord Aro, knew of her origins. She was more than vampire; he often thought of her as a demon - cloaked in the cruel guise of divine beauty.

"Rise, Santiago, and give me news."

Slowly he came to his feet before her. As he cautiously took her in, his eyes widened at the glistening oily slick of dark red blood completely coating her nude form. Her face was splattered, ice blue eyes glittering sharply beneath the signs of slaughter. Glossy gore-soaked black hair was coiled tightly on top of her head, pulling her sharply defined features into taut, harsh lines. Locking that deadly cold gaze on him, her impatience filled the room, stifling him with its crushing weight. A tapered, perfectly manicured bloody finger pressed into his crisp white linen shirt, staining it like a gunshot wound.

"I can smell your fear. Speak!" Her voice was like a razor, seeking skin to flay and sinew to slice.

"The Golden Eyed Queen lives and has destroyed your army, my Mistress."

Silence hung in the air as if the world stopped turning. In that moment, Santiago wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

Her eyes became molten with madness as she moved forward striking like a cobra, grabbing him tightly by the throat, lifting him until his feet dangled helplessly above the marble floor.

"You lie," she hissed. The scorpion sting of her building rage infected him like poison, making him feel dizzy and weak even though he knew this was a physical impossibility. Her nails dug in to his flesh, piercing his impermeable skin like a hot knife through butter. Besides the Children of the Moon, Sulpicia was the only being Santiago knew of who could rip a vampire to shreds with very little effort. He did not struggle in her grip, knowing it would only vex her further.

His response came out reedy, thin as paper, "On my honor, Mistress, it is the truth. The Striga live on! The Three have become One and Adrastea's curse upon the Volturi brothers was fulfilled with a vengeance by a blood relative."

"How did this happen?" she spat as she released him and he crumpled in supplication before her, the bloody stain from her hand wreathed around his neck. "The blood was thinned out! Aro assured me Xandru and Ioana were the last."

Santiago was not surprised she showed no signs of grief at the death of her mate, Aro. She was probably more pissed he wasn't here to answer to her for being a failure, for weakening her hold over the vampire race. Now she would have to reveal herself as the true power behind the brothers or risk anarchy.

However, the legend of the Curse and The Golden Eyed Queen coming full circle was her worst nightmare. Sulpicia would be an animal on the defense for her territory, and she was _very_ territorial. She would want all information he could give her on Bella Swan, so that is what Santiago supplied despite the blade of her wrath at his throat.

"It appears Leda of the Striga made it to the New World. Mated with a shifter of Taha Aki's line."

Sulpicia's face flinched at the mention of his name_. _In all his years of service to his Mistress, he never fully understood her obsession in finding the Pricolici shifter Taha Aki. Her tenacity rivaled even that of Caius and his mad hunt for The Children of The Moon. It was she who told Caius of the whereabouts of Taha Aki's line as soon as she discovered them in the Pacific North West of America.

Santiago paused in his account and watched her pace the room as she digested the details of his information like a general preparing for war. She excelled in war. He could even believe she invented the concept.

She stopped and shook her head with disbelief. Turning slowly to him, her face was grim, malevolence simmering below the surface.

"Fate is a cruel, fickle bitch, Santiago."

"Yes Mistress, that she is." _No crueler than the fearsome creature before me,_ Santiago thought to himself.

"Tell me more about the hybrid witch."

He noticed she refused to call her The Golden Eyed Queen. Perhaps she dared not grant the name any power by uttering it, he thought as he straightened to deliver her request. He couldn't imagine her being afraid of anything.

"Her name is Bella Swan, and she is undergoing the change as we speak. Her bonded mate is Edward of the Cullen Coven."

"She took down my Lords and my Guard _before_ her transition?" Her words were clipped, the instinctual need to know her foe quickening within her, erasing the madness from her eyes, replacing it with cold calculation.

"Yes."

"How?"

"She had...help. The Shifters on the La Push reservation, the Cullens and..."

Santiago looked to the floor, unable to form the words that burned in the back of his throat.

"Tell me. Now." Her voice pulled at him, wrapping him in bewitchment, squeezing forth truth like a boa constrictor crushing the life out of its prey.

"Alec, or I mean, Xandru. It appears he was in collusion with his great niece...gave her...The Scriptures."

Sulpicia's face twisted into a melting mask of barely controlled rage, then her mouth opened wide to let free a mighty leonine roar; the deafening echo of it filling Santiago's once silent chest with the strong beating of fear.

Her pacing started anew; around and around the fire pit she walked as the flames grew, danced, swayed and beckoned, climbing higher with her every pass.

"I warned Aro his fascination and devotion to those Witch Twins would bite him in the ass. Cursed fool - he earned his demise! His need to collect the "talented" of our race was a sickness I indulged far too long with a blind eye. His arrogance was his downfall, and now? Now Santiago?" she stomped over to him and stood before his rigid, frightened body.

"Now we must finish this. We must act quickly, before the witch realizes how powerful she really is. She can't find The Source before we do." Her eyes narrowed shrewdly contemplating something devious, then her face lit up in a bone chilling smile.

"Perhaps we should _let_ her find The Source."

"Mistress?" Santiago asked meekly. Naked and primal, the drying blood coating her and cruel smile tugging at the corners of her thin lips terrified him. The flames of the fire pit roared in response, while eerie shadows caressed and slithered over her body, making her appear even more sinister.

"Santiago, I have searched for The Source for over 2000 years and I have yet to find it. I'm not meant to find it. _The witch is._ In fact...we could push her along to make sure she has no choice _but_ to find it."

Turning, she went to her dolorous menagerie of bloodletting devices. Santiago sucked in a breath when it became clear Sulpicia did in fact NOT know the terrible bottle was missing.

Upon realizing its absence her hands curled into fists and her whole body went stiff as she threw back her head and let loose a ravaging scream which filled the entire chamber. If there were windows present in this space, Santiago swore they would have shattered from her high pitched peal of rage. His eyes snatched upon the empty glass box that had housed the terrible bottle just as Sulpicia ripped it from the shelf, turned and whipped it at his feet. He stood stoically still, eyes fastened on the back wall behind her, not daring to look in her eyes.

She was in front of him in a breath, her voice a steely tone that demanded he listen, "It seems we have a spy still within our midst Santiago, I smell Ourosboros, only _they_ would be foolish enough to take that bottle from me. Plant spies in MY house! I will see to their elimination! Who was Alec's sire?" she demanded.

"Eleazar Morales, retired Guard."

Her eyes narrowed in tight contemplation, "Perhaps it's time to pay Eleazar a little visit...maybe even bring him out of retirement."

Turning on her heel, she strode to the fire, her arms held away from her body, palms up, as she spoke in incantation in an old language unknown to Santiago. He had only ever heard her speak it. Perhaps it was best he didn't understand what she was saying when she used it as usually the darkest of magics would follow.

The flames undulated, weaving higher with the rising volume of her voice. Stepping over the black brick encasing of the fire pit, she walked into the brilliant orange blue flames. The blood boiled and burned away from her skin like a dark varnish chemically peeling from the whitest wood. The wind stirred the flames again and they licked at her skin until she was swaddled in fire, which fell away like silk to reveal her blood red leathers. She then disappeared, her malicious laughter still ringing in the air. After she was gone, Santiago dropped to the floor, shamefully shaking in fear and terror.

The power of Hell had been unleashed without a chaperon, fueled by black rage and vengeance. Santiago almost pitied Eleazar; if he was in fact Ourosbouros, then it was he who anchored Alec to his past as Xandru. For that he would pay dearly, and if he had the bottle with him...Santiago merely shuddered at the thought of how Sulpicia would collect upon that debt.

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Broken Doll has received the honor of being nominated in the "Best Darkward" category in the "Immortal Sin Awards" hosted by the Darkest Temptations blog!

I'm pleased to say Goldenmeadow's "Surrrender" was also nominated in this category!

Blessings rain down as my guest writer piece, "Seeking Asylum", chapter 3 of Goldenmeadow's outtake reel for Dead Confederates - Rebelward Without a Cause - was also nominated for "Best Dark Femme".

"Sugar" written by Winterstale was also nominated in this category. Her collaboration with Rosmarina "Angelus Ex Abyssus" was nominated for "Best Darkmett" . The ladies from the DW are representing!

Goldenmeadow and Winterstale are extremely talented authors, nominated in other categories as well. Their collaboration, "The Tigresse of Csejte," a contender for multiple categories - "Craziest Mofo", "Most Creative Ways to Kill a Character" and "I cheered For It Death"!

**Voting is up until Friday October 15! The link is _darksper ((dot)) blogspot((dot)) com._**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N **- _Huge thanks to __**TwiliteAddict**__ for being such a dedicated, patient beta. __**Gasaway Alley**__ is my pre-reader and she always brings a super polished edge to the final edits of my pieces. I am extremely lucky to have such talented women in my corner! _

_Big red lippy kisses to __**Goldenmeadow**__ for rec'ing __**Broken Doll**__ as one of her picks for the read along planned this weekend by __**Indie TLC Cullen**__ for the__** FanficAholics Anon - Where Obsession never sleeps**__ blog. Her unfailing support for Broken Doll truly humbles me. Thank you!_

_Goldenmeadow is just about to complete her beautiful fic __**Youth Without Age and Life Without Death.**__ It is truly a divine slice of Goldenmeadow's one of a kind, gorgeous storytelling. Run don't walk to read!_

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There is only one thing that can annihilate a vampire.

_Fire._

Armed with nothing but hope burning in my hollowed dead heart, I charged through the flames of Hell's battlefield searching desperately for my Isabella. A stolen Volturi cloak, saturated with water for protection from the searing sting of flames, covered me from head to toe. I will never forget the snapping sizzle and press of heat beating brutal heavy wings against my body, whispering its doubt of ever finding my love alive amidst this infernal destruction. I promised myself I was coming out with her or not at all, choosing to perish rather than exist without her.

Finding her on the brink of death, I remember not even thinking, immediately falling upon her burnt and broken form, tearing into the blackened coal of her flesh to infuse her system with my venom. Bloodlust cast a red haze across my vision as my system reeled with the taste of her blood on my tongue -it was not just warm, but a hot blast of liquid heaven rushing down my throat. _Communion. This is her body. Her blood. _

Her burnt skin abraded my lips reminding me this was my love's life-force I was glutting myself upon. I detached myself before her heart stopped beating, shaking off the stupor from the thrall of her blood by looking upon her ravaged, unrecognizable form. I threw back my head and roared at the Heavens for allowing this precious life to fall, begged in the next bellow for her survival, and threatened with a curse should they fail. I could do nothing but rage and shake long after the roaring had quelled. Bereft with grief, surrounded by carnage and death, I was rocking her gently, back and forth in my arms when it all changed

In my peripheral vision, the world started to turn, accelerate, then spin around us in a blur as if Bella and I were the epicenter of a tornado. I held her lifeless form closer to me to protect her from being ripped from my arms. A sonic boom exploded in my ears, cracking across my ribs with an invisible impact, to echo within the chambers of my inert heart. A blinding flash of light popped like an old-fashioned flashbulb and I reflexively closed my eyes against the glare. When I reopened them, my arms were empty and I was running through a misty watercolor forest. Beside me was Bella. _She was alive! _ Whole; pulsing with life as she flew swiftly through the woods with me.

Looking every inch the goddess of my heart, Bella was dressed in a snow white flowing himation. Gone were my own soot covered clothing, replaced by crisp white linen pants and shirt with nary a wrinkle. Both of us ran on bare feet, the forgiving ground giving us no cause to slow our speed. Bella's beautiful mahogany hair was unrestrained, with glossy curls bouncing against her back as she bounded ahead of me. I immediately thought we were in Heaven, but Bella seemed to think we were in some type of celestial weigh station. She called it the _In Between. _We ran across the edges of time and space, exploring our ever changing surroundings, but Creation's swift and tireless legs bore down on us bringing with it, the hellacious process of Bella's transformation.

Her change was unlike any I had ever witnessed. On the physical plane, her body went through excruciating biological agonies beneath a protective magical layer of ice, my own body wrapped around hers. Here, in the In Between, her soul was treated as vessel to be filled with more power than I could ever fathom. It came upon us like a vengeful storm.

An eery hush settled around us as the sky turned ominous, stealing the color and brightness from our surroundings. Sound returned in the form of a forceful screaming wind which tore me from Bella as the heavens opened above us. Thunder boomed. Lightning flashed and speared my Bella through the chest, infusing her with power.

Surge after surge of magical laden lightning struck her celestial form, bowing her towards the sky in painful torment. I was horrified yet amazed by her strength in withstanding it all with little resistance and no complaint. Isabella Marie Swan was the most courageous, indomitable being I have ever known, and I was _hers..._body and now soul.

When the last bolt of electricity released its terrifying grip on her, internal doubt began its slow erosion of her otherwise brave and peaceful spirit.

"_What am I becoming?" _her mind inquired.

Bella asked me this many times on the last day of her transformation. I truly had no idea as I had never heard of a being with Bella's mixture of supernatural blood becoming a vampire. I certainly understood her reservations about the power she was being given...mostly without a choice. I did my best to reassure her, but I struggled for answers when she asked about blood ; namely her need for it to exist. She worried over the cravings, whether or not she could control her innate need for human blood and was unable to fathom the brutality she would need to exhibit to hunt and take down an animal for nourishment. Since our minds were open to each other, there was no way to mince my words when explaining the hard truths about what it is to be a vampire. There also was no way for her to front that killing to eat did not bother her, and despite her face being deceptively devoid of emotion, I told her in great detail how difficult the blood-lust was to control during the first few years as a newborn.

"_Yet another reason why Denali will be a good choice for you to spend your first few months in your new form, Isabella. The compound is vast and there are very few humans about."_

"_There's also plenty of game for me to ...hunt?" _

Thinking of Bella on a hunt stirred up a rush of dark need which churned in a lustful boil low in my belly. Over the years, I had learned a few things about our unique nature while being in the minds of my family when they paired off to hunt. Once their kills were consumed and their hunger satisfied, the life coursing through them was akin to an erotic high. I would then be inundated with a watershed of explicit images of some very primal sex. This was one of the main reasons I preferred to hunt alone. I didn't need Jasper's ability to pick up on the blatant euphoria and release accomplished by this seemingly shocking behavior and in time I came to accept it simply as part of what we are. Sex and Death have always gone hand in hand – and soon enough I began to feel the loneliness and singularity of hunting without a mate. I sighed over the image of Bella, fierce and victorious after a feeding, instinctual need glazing over her eyes like a drug, beckoning my body to hers with unabridged carnal sensuality.

She caught the fantasy from my mental movie immediately; I didn't even have time to clear my thoughts. It was not an easy transition getting used to Bella and I being in each other's heads so intimately.

"_If you run anything like you do here in the In Between, I think you will be able to overtake your food just fine. Love, you won't even think about it like that. It will be a completely different mindset. Instinct will simply take over and..."_

A wry grin flashed across her lips, spearing me with its intense sensuality. _This woman._

"_Instinct, huh?"_

I brushed the backs of my knuckles over her cheek, an embarrassed smile tickling the edges of my mouth. She kissed my fingers and leaned into me with a contented sigh; hugging me tightly before her mood nosedived again becoming somber. We knelt on the ground of our Monet-inspired meadow, with the clouds dispersing, and moving on. The lightning strikes had blessedly ceased for good, yet Bella still curled into herself, attempting to withhold her thoughts from me. I struggled with her to keep her guards down. We knew the time was nigh for her to awaken, and the worry of it pressed heavily; quieting us both.

Never in a million years would I have guessed Bella would be the one to show me so much more than I already knew about the supernatural world. She ripped apart my paradigms and showed me limitless possibilities by coming into my life. Bringing me with her to the borders of the afterlife, the _In Between_ was the most frightening and wondrous experience of my existence. Keeping one foot in the celestial plane and the other in the physical was a comforting yet invigorating mental balancing act. My ability to read minds gave us that precious connection to our loved ones who stood vigil with me, waiting for Bella to rise.

Alice's visits to the room where our physical bodies lie in state were few and far between. She could now see visions of mine and Bella's future, but they came at her fast and hard, leaving her with excruciating head pain. There were times I would get intense flashes of what was playing in her mind as the Sight accosted her. Bella and I completely understood her need to keep her distance. Just before Bella was about to awaken however, Alice refused to be anywhere else but with us despite the pain.

The moment Alice entered the room, all three of us were assaulted with thousands of scenes of potential events, flashing through Alice's mind, to mine and then Bella's at the speed of light. The razor sharp acuity of the visions were so powerful, Bella and I could not help but be unwilling spectators to the visions no matter how hard I tried to pull away from Alice's mind.

I could feel Jasper concentrating all of his emotion-manipulating efforts on trying to keep Alice from being bitten by madness due to the onslaught and tenacity of the Sight. His numbing blanket of calm managed to slow the visions down to an almost bearable level. One vision in particular kept replaying over and over, as if it's outcome could not be foiled no matter what decision we made.

I was lying on a bed, my face ashen and hollow. My body ravaged with sickness. Dying. At first, I thought it was a flashback to when I had the Spanish flu, but the bed and blankets were all wrong, they were more modern looking. Definitely not from 1918. This detail did not escape Alice and Bella's notice and that was when everything fell apart. Bella's eyes turned black. Alice's…bled venom. Her nose, and ears as well, seeped the shiny golden fluid. Jasper's face contorted in horror as he wiped it from Alice's face.

"Alice, honey, we have to leave now. Please baby girl, please." Alice wouldn't budge, sobbing and pushing him from her. Jasper's habitual calm shattered, the panic rising in his voice:

"Em, I need your help, we have to get her out of here." As Emmett ran to Jasper's aid, Rose rushed out of the room saying she was going to find Jake and Leah to help with dampening the visions. Alice fought them like a wild animal, desperate to see more to give a clue as to how and why the vision of me dying comes to be.

"_No! We need to see! We need to see more!" _

Bella screamed along with Alice their voices in stereo reaching me from both planes and colliding in a deafening roar. Alice passed out cold, slumping over my brothers arms as they picked her up and carried her from the room, a concerned Carlisle and Esme quickly following.

Gone as quickly as they came, the absence of the visions left a fathomless silence. Bella's eyes closed and then opened again, the pupils back to their deep brown. Looking up to the sky, she vowed under her breath she would have answers about our future, then turned on her heel and ran from me. I didn't have time to consider the vision of me dying, my only thought was going after Bella as I knew her - she was considering something drastic.

I chased her across the _In Between _through an empty field of knee-high yellow grass. Finally catching up with her, I grabbed her shoulder and spun her to face me. Her tenacious glare was heated, determination set her features like stone, fear completely absent. Her plan flowed through my mind like water: she was going to summon a god.

"_Bella, you can't do this."_

"_I can, and I will. I want answers, now. An existence without you isn't a option, and I have to find a way for that not to happen. I didn't risk everything only to lose you again."_

"_How do you know for sure it's an image from the future?"_

A frown creased her brow, she regarded me as if I had two heads.

"_Because Alice sees the future?"_

"_Yes, but you can see the past. Perhaps your abilities are intermingling and amping up Alice's. We have no idea how your power affects those around you yet. Maybe what you saw was a combination of scenes from the present AND the past. Perhaps that scene was when I was dying from Spanish flu...before Carlisle changed me. Besides, Bella, I'm immortal. I can't get sick. My body doesn't change."_

Doubt swirled in the dark cauldron of her eyes. Her eyelashes fluttered closed, eyelids crinkling in distress as her beautiful mouth tightened into a hard line. She shook her head lightly in negation before she reopened them, dead calm settling into her face. I knew this look. This was the look that told me there was no room for negotiation.

"_Edward…the bed, the blankets. You know it's not a vision from the past."_

She was right, there was no way I could refute the modern look to the blankets and bed I was in, yet I had been desperate enough to try. Her eyes filled with sadness when she noticed I finally acknowledged the truth of the vision. I sighed, reaching out to take her hand in mine.

"_Are you sure this is the only way?"_

"_I won't lose you again, Edward. I will pull down heaven itself to find a way to keep you from ever being taken from me. I need to know for sure what our future holds and I will have answers. "_

"_Answers from who? How do you know who to...summon?" I asked warily._

"_I don't know, Edward, but someone up there - a higher power, or an overseer – someone is listening, making sure things go as they should. Look at the grand scope of your path being intertwined with mine, the imprinting, the bond we have, the obvious importance of transforming me into who I am destined to be. Besides, what better place to summon a god than on a celestial plane?"_

I was completely flummoxed. There was a time I thought I had been forsaken by the higher powers – I was left so long to languish in loneliness and torturous guilt over my nature. When Bella came into my life, she restored my faith in my own worth. I began to believe again I was worth of a heavenly reward, for she was just that. It could have only been through the grace of the gods that she came to love me, and we had walked through literal and figurative fires of hell to remain with each other. She made me believe anything was possible, yet what she was planning seemed so bold and beyond my experience level. Conversing with gods? I couldn't argue with her logic – the location was prime for summoning a higher power.

"Then let's see who is listening." A cold pit of dread still sat stubbornly in the bottom of my stomach, despite my complete trust in Bella's abilities. Her smile warmed me, chasing away the weighted worry.

Bella took a deep, measured breath and closed her eyes as her features slackened. Holding her arms aloft, she made a sweeping motion with her hands. Wind stole across the empty field where we stood - ribbons of invisible movement rippling across the tall grass to pull and tug at the billowing material of Bella's dress. A pulsing orange light was building beneath her skin, becoming brighter as her face tightened in concentration. She began to rise, levitating into the air. Her eyes snapped open as I gaped in awe at the sight of them blazing with gold fire. In the middle of her forehead, an ankh symbol appeared, outlined in bright white light. She looked like an avenging angel. I could have sworn I saw a ghostly outline of fiery wings spring from her back, but it was her voice that stunned me. It was beyond powerful, causing me to flinch even though I knew this was my Bella and no harm would come to me by her hand. The air thickened with magic as she spoke. Though I worried about her brashness of using her power so forcefully, I had also watched her suffer as she absorbed each supernal strike of lightning into herself. As far as I was concerned she could wield it as she wished as she had paid for her power with a pound of flesh.

"_Hear me now, Guardians of this world and the next. I summon the One who has the answers to my questions."_

Stillness gripped the _In Between._ I did not move a muscle, my eyes riveted to Bella and her frightening resolve to be answered.

"_I am Isabella Marie Swan. Descendant of Striga Aesa and Adrastea. I am the Three that become One. I implore the heavens to listen as I seek counsel."_

Anger flickered across her face and though I knew it was a futile gesture, a plea for her to stop escaped my lips, falling on deaf ears.

"Isabella..."

The orange glow of magic that had gathered under her skin darkened to red hues. Fiery wings, thought seen in but a ghostly glimpse, strengthened and solidified, beating a cooling breeze across my face. My dread went from a cold weight to a freezing depth of fear for the repercussions of this bold display of power in summoning a god. I knew it would be not long before we found out what those repercussions would be as thunder rolled in response to Bella's call.

Lightning flashed so brilliantly it blinded me momentarily, and when I could see again, I felt as if a part of my soul had been ripped away.

My connection to Bella was severed, the loss bringing me to my knees in agony.

She was gone.

Bella had vanished into thin air.

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I promise to not leave you all hanging for long. Where do you think she went? Hit that review button and hazard a guess!


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N – **I am very excited to have completed this chapter so quickly, I haven't had a two week turn around for updating in over a year! My pre-reader **Gasaway Alley** and I had great time polishing the piece and she also inpsired a nice little plot seed for later. **TwiliteAddict **beta'd this for me lightening quick. Thank you so much ladies, this story is enhanced so much by your edits and input._

_I'm sure you are anxious to find out what happened to Bella when she was plucked out of the sky of the In Between. Without further ado..._

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Awareness tumbled into my brain, a muddy onslaught leaving me in murky disorientation as I tried to grab a hold of my senses. My first task was to quell the dizzying spin of my body adjusting from being plucked out of one reality, and then dumped unceremoniously into another. I felt like I'd been pulled through a tiny keyhole of time and space. Heat warmed my skin, shrouding my sight with a cherry red glow from sunshine burning through the delicate skin of my closed eyes.

_Where am I?_

I was laying on a flat smooth surface, but my body felt a slight rocking motion which was not helping my dizziness. A rush of nausea thickened my tongue - I refused to open my eyes until it had passed. I could hear the slosh and slap of water breaking against...a hull?

_A boat? _

I opened my eyes, only to be temporarily blinded by the sun which was hanging directly above me in an azure sky. As the multicolored spots flashed and faded, a dark outline of a hawk circled lazily - _ I can't be far from land if that is a hawk up there. _Turning my head to the left I squinted across the highly polished glare of a hardwood deck. This was a very large boat. A yacht perhaps? A life preserver hanging on the port side told me its name was _Mandjet. _

"Edward?" My connection to him was gone. I couldn't feel him at all. I felt a surge of panic and pushed it down before it swallowed me. _What the hell was I thinking calling out to the Universe like that? What did I expect exactly? Someone to answer and say..._

"He's not here. I thought it best we have this conversation in private."

Startled, I jumped up off the floor of the yacht to face the ambiguously accented, brown-sugar voice to the left of me. A handsome exotic male, with skin the color of creamed coffee and hair so black it shone blue when the sun hit it, was sitting at a table in the middle of what appeared to be breakfast. He was handsomely dressed in a snow white button down looking as crisp and upper-crust casual as a Ralph Lauren ad. He had an amused look on his face as he folded his newspaper, its universally precise columns containing a language I did not recognize. I scowled deeply, crossing my arms over my chest as I wondered darkly what the hell was he so smug about, and where the hell my lover was.

"What did you do with Edward?"

"Absolutely nothing my dear. Your Edward is perfectly safe and right where I left him in the In Between."

With a heavy sigh escaping my lips, I couldn't help but close my eyes briefly as my shoulders sagged in relief. I opened my eyes to see my host flashing a bright toothy grin with an appreciative nod.

"Your devotion to him is deep. We were counting on that." He stood up and offered the empty chair at the table to me. I walked gingerly to the seat, still feeling a little off from my magic carpet ride.

"I'm so sorry about the nausea and dizziness my dear, I had to sacrifice comfort for expediency as you were causing quite a commotion on the party line, and we can't have that just yet."

"Pardon my rudeness, but.._who are you _?"

"Who I am is of no real importance. At least not anymore. I've been retired for a very long time now." He snorted in derision, poorly masking an obvious wound to his pride. Lowering his voice, he leaned towards me in a conspiring manner, "In fact, you really shouldn't be here. I'm not allowed to interfere, but you left me with no choice. Power such as you summoned was enough to break through more planes of existence than you would care to dream of - but then again, from what I've seen, you show no real sense of self preservation, or reservation for that matter. Though impressive, such a bold display...attracts a lot of attention. Not all of it good."

Carefree ease dissolved from his face as his intense, kohl-lined eyes darkened and narrowed while he appraised my reaction to his ominous statement. Spidery legs of fear began to creep along my skin, and as frightened as I was at the thought of gods or goddesses from other planes of existence having it out for me, I refused to let him see it.

"Who. Are. You?" I was pretty much done with the cloak and dagger routine.

His scrutinizing glare relaxed, a smirk tugging again at his lips. _ At least he finds my impatience amusing._ He carried on blithely as if he didn't hear my question. My host chuckled as if we shared a naughty secret and winked salaciously at me.

"Who YOU are however, now that..._that _ is a much more interesting conversation."

"Who I am?" I blustered.

"Yes, Isabella...who _you _are. _You _are the culmination of thousands of generations of prophecy, breeding and above all, hope. _You _are the hope for your people. For humanity." A birdlike screech punctuated his grand statement and the hawk I had glimpsed earlier, leagues above me in the sky, swooped in and landed gracefully upon a solid gold perch standing beside the table. The majestic bird preened and settled before training its black beady eyes on me, tilting its head to the side as if it could see through to the heart of me. Perhaps he could. I wondered what it would find there. Enough strength to do whatever it took to save the ones I love?

_I sure hope so._

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that the animal knew me somehow, and I him. It made me a little uncomfortable. In fact this whole scenario made me uncomfortable, being here without Edward made me...edgy.

"I'm the hope for humanity? What the hell are you talking about? "

"Temper, temper Isabella. You shook the heavens for answers to ONE question - _How to save Edward." _ he admonished. Frustration curled its spiny fingers, strangling my patience, but what did I expect? A straight answer from a god who won't even tell me his name? _Yeah right._

"Unfortunately, our time is limited, so let's not trifle over things you can't change and talk about things you can." his voice was clipped, letting me know his patience was dwindling as well. At this point, ruffling his feathers would not help me, especially since I now had more questions than what I came here with.

He clapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously, closing his eyes as he pulled them apart slowly. A filmy, gauzy substance held swirling dark shapes which began to sharpen, revealing the same scene that brought me here: Edward, lying in a modern bed, sweat beading his grey tinged brow. Fear and desperation clogged my throat, the vision no less horrific the second time around of my love haggard and hollowed out by imminent death. My world threatened to collapse with the heavy weight of losing him.

"How do I save him?" I choked out. Fat tears were quickly damming up my ability to communicate.

Sadness pooled in his eyes as he placed his hands together again, making the image of Edward disappear. He reached for his linen napkin pushing it into my hand.

"Don't cry my dear. Tears from one as strong as you have the ability to drown whole worlds in sorrow."

I balled the napkin in my hand and took a deep shuddering breath to try and gather my dignity. "I'm sorry. Please...how do I save him?"

His eyes took on a far away look, as if he was not just recalling past events, but actually reliving them. I looked beyond him to notice we were on a very large river. In the distance I could see the banks were dense with tall skinny trees resembling palms. Mud-brick dwellings dotted the land beyond the river, the scene was timeless and simplistic.

"Humans have worshipped Gods and Goddesses since the beginning of time. They would build us temples, make sacrifices to us, label us as divine - omnipotent even - and they blindly obeyed our every whim. It's all a ruse Isabella. A gross misrepresentation of the balance of power. Humans have the true power. We can't resist their adulation and it eventually corrupts - without their subservience and energy directed towards us in worship and ritual, we lose respect and position amongst our own. What is the use of King with no people? A shepherd without sheep? The first time I experienced this drop in favour with my human worshipers, I was deeply angered. I was at the head of my Pantheon and desperate to maintain my status.

I demanded blood payment for their infidelity and in doing so, loosed a great evil into the world. An evil that would not stop until it eradicated all of humanity, its bloodlust, insatiable. Realizing I was cutting off my nose to spite my face, I tried to reign in the beast I had turned loose.

I cornered the monstrosity, but was unable to kill it. It was too strong, even for me. My brother devised a way to subdue it, then I divided it into two parts, banishing the most troublesome portion of it from the land of my people. It became known as The Forsaken. Thousands of years have not mellowed its malevolent desire to be whole again. It plots, aching to find its other half and return to its former self."

He paused in his narrative long enough for me to finally comment. I was not entirely comfortable with where this was leading and decided to cut him off at the pass.

"What does any of this have to do with saving Edward?"

"Everything. As I told you Isabella, your bloodlines, the very fabric of your destiny was carefully chosen, woven into being in this place at this time. You are meant to keep The Forsaken from finding and reuniting with its other half - The Source.

"The Source?"

"A goddess of Creation. Life itself."

_Life itself. A cure for Edward? _We were finally getting to the "what's in this for me" portion of the conversation.

"So...The Source could help Edward?"

"Yes. But there are risks, Isabella even for someone with your abilities. The Forsaken will not be as easily dispatched as The Volturi."

"How do you figure that was easy? I damn near burnt myself to a crisp doing it."

"You managed quite well, considering."

_"Considering!"_

He arched his eyebrow, calling my temper into question again.

"How do I find The Forsaken?" I huffed.

"I don't think you need to worry about that. It will find you..." He reached for a package of cigarettes and withdrew one. It was wrapped in black paper not the stereotypical white. He lit it, taking a long deep drag, blowing smoke rings as he exhaled. "...which is why you must keep quiet about our conversation here. With the death of Xandru and his failure to tell you everything he should have, The Forsaken believes you will be taken unawares. It believes it has the advantage."

"Xandru gave up his life to help me...he died a hero and I won't tolerate him being labeled as a "failure" and...I'm done lying. I won't lie to Edward, or our family. I'm stronger with them than without them."

He shrugged his shoulders, turning his palms up. "That is completely up to you, but know this, The Forsaken will use your weaknesses against you, and your weakness is the love you have for Edward and his family."

"You obviously don't know me very well. I'm stronger only because of my love for them. I'm not a glass half-empty kind of woman. And, trust me, if there is any liquid at all left in the glass, Adversity can kiss my ass." I gave him my sweetest smile, resisting the urge to roll my neck and snap my fingers.

My host surprised me when the very air was split by his uncontrolled laughter which stretched across the water to echo back in a joyful cacophony of sound. Wiping the tears from his eyes, his mirth tapered to a sigh, "Oh Isabella, you are truly something. I've never known a more fearless, guileless being. "

"Well, I just figure, if its my destiny to stand against The Forsaken, when and where doesn't really matter...but how certainly does. How do I defeat it?"

He took a thoughtful drag on his cigarette, exhaling heavily in one long stream, weighing his answer. I could smell the spicy smoke from his cigarette clinging to his breath, fanning across my face like a desert breeze.

"I don't know. You see, here's the slippery part about Destiny - events can be preordained, but never definitive or absolute in outcome as to allow for the ebb and flow of free will. For example, I don't know when or how Edward is stricken with illness, but I know that it will happen, no matter how many pains you take to keep him safe. I know your battle with The Forsaken is inevitable yet I don't know who will be left standing. All I have to offer for comfort is that your metamorphosis is complet e, and you have been filled with as much power as you will need to accomplish your quest."

_Destiny. Power._ I was starting to get sick of those words. My mind flashed a memory of Alice, her eyes, ears and nose pouring golden venom from being overloaded with potent visions of my and Edward's future. I decided to push my luck. Afterall, from what I got from the gist of his story, I was cleaning up his mess in taking care of The Forsaken. He owed me at least this much. I wouldn't dare tell him that though.

"I won't forgive myself if I leave here and not ask you this. Is there any way I can ...dampen my power around others? So that I don't hurt anyone I love unintentionally?"

Understanding dawned across his face. "Ahhh, yes. The Oracle can't be near you without losing her mind. I may be able to help you there. A gift, before you go." He smiled broadly, stood and walked over to my chair holding out his hand to help me up. Dark eyes held mine, dragging me in, drowning me in a flood of magic as he placed his fingers at my temples. White light pulsed from his fingertips in my peripheral vision. An invisible force pushed its way into my head, a cooling numbness blanketing my brain before everything went black. The god's last words to me hung in the air;

"Rise, Isabella. It's time."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - I hope everyone had a lovely holiday! This chapter is a little shorter than previous ones, but I wanted to keep the EPOV separate. There will not be as long of a wait for the BPOV. **

**Huge thanks and hugs to TwiliteAddict for her fabulous beta work and valuable insight! **

**Ginormous kisses and butt pinches to Gasaway Alley for the final gloss of shiny goodness to this chapter! I love watching this woman re-work phrases with effortless brilliance.**

* * *

The moment Bella's celestial form disappeared from the In Between, her physical body, tucked beside me so intimately in our icy fortress, also vanished. The space her body had taken up was emptied; draining my soul and filling it's place with dread. Why would her physical body disappear also?

_Where was she? Where did she go?_

I stared fixedly in cold shock at the point in the sky where she was last seen. I could feel myself shutting down as the minutes passed in the black void of her absence. I paced with impatience, and pleaded in prayer to any god I thought might listen to send her back to me. The cold, answering silence stirred my panic, thickening my veins with worry, clogging my conscience with the insanity of uncertainty. I glared at the sky until I thought twin black holes would burn into the ozone and kept telling myself - I had to be patient. Unfortunately, patience was never one of my virtues.

She would come back.

_She has to come back._

Never had I felt more alone, and yet, I was not the only one experiencing the mind-boggling mystery of Bella's sudden disappearance. I turned my attentions back to the physical plane, but my family's reaction to her absence was not the most comforting of distractions. Rose was the first to notice her missing.

"Emmett! Carlisle! Bella's gone!" Frantically, she started beating and scratching against our casket with desperate force.

"We have to break the ice! Help me get Edward out! _EDWARD!_" she screamed.

The tomb of ice stood strong as the entire room reverberated, shaking from the aftershocks of her violent efforts to get me out. Even if she succeeded, I wondered if I would want to be sprung from my magical prison without my mate.

_Definitely not. _I would stay in this frozen box, my soul in limbo, until her return.

Carlisle and Emmett tried to pry Rose away, but she vehemently held her ground, becoming incensed when she realized no one else was taking Bella's disappearance as seriously as she was. Emmett crouched down and looked intensely into her eyes, his hands gripped her arms tightly, shaking her frenzied form slightly

"Rose, doll baby, this isn't helping. That casket is made up of things we have no business tearing apart."

"But she's...and he's..._without her_!" she choked back her horror, fueled by the utter helplessness of the situation at hand.

"I know, Rose. I know. It's messed right the hell up, honey, but all we can do is wait." He sounded positively pained.

Of all the members of my family who waited patiently beside us, Emmett was a constant presence. He would read to us or talk quietly about the goings on in the house. He took great delight in gossiping like an old hen about Tanya's overly dramatic fits over the wolves presence. In an attempt for peace, Leah and Jacob holed up in a cabin at the farthest most reach of the compound. Their feelings were certainly not hurt, and last Em heard, they had been "honeymooning it up" in grand style. This of course naturally progressed to me desperately trying to ignore his colorful musings on whether or not the wolves practiced "doggy style" in its literal connotation.

Rose had been as solid a presence as Em, clicking in and out, murmuring low to her mate, bringing him more books or magazines to look at. She never once tried to pull him away from his watchful post. She deeply respected his dedication to see us through to our reawakening. That deep respect was the only thing calming her now. Her hands relaxed, dropping to her sides in quiet concurrence, whispered apologies her only response.

"Let's go get the dogs, shall we?" Em toned low to Rose, wrapping his large hand over hers and tugging her from the room. "I'll send Jasper in, Carlisle."

In all the years I had known Carlisle, I had never known him to be at a loss on what to do. Carlisle had always been the one we could come to with a problem, knowing we would leave with it solved. In his quiet, non-judgmental way, he gave his counsel backed by sound wisdom and over four centuries of experience.

However, he had never experienced anything like this.

Jasper entered a moment later and stood over our impermeable chrysalis. "Carlisle, something just isn't right. I can't feel a thing from either of them now. Bella is nothing but empty space and Edward is...static. It's like he's in... shock."

"Maybe Rose had reason to panic. Should we try to break him out?"

Alice interrupted Jasper's reply by rushing into the room. I braced myself for the onslaught of pain the multitude of visions caused my precog sibling, but it became clear she was no longer in agony when so near to...

A sickening thought then oiled its way across my conscience. Was Alice not feeling any pain simply because Bella wasn't physically here, or was it because she was...I couldn't even form the black conclusion; was my Bella...dead?

From the In Between to the physical plane and back again like somea type of existential yo-yo, I anxiously searched for some sign of Bella.

"_Bella! Where are you?" _I screamed at the empty sky of the In Between. Silence mocked me, bands of panic tightened painfully across my chest, squeezing a moan of desperation from my throat.

Alice's thoughts interrupted my grief; _Edward, she's on her way back. I don't know how I know, but I do, and the pain is gone Edward. It's gone!_

I dared to hope.

"It's time. Stand back everyone," Alice announced as the ice began to crackle and snap. Fissures branched like hundreds and hundreds of tiny lightning bolts across the expanse of our encasement.

A brilliant flash of light seared my line of vision and the In Between disappeared. I had the strangest sensation of falling backwards before I became aware of Bella, solidly and inexplicably back in my arms. Hot relief flooded my system as feeling her against me washed through my body like a strong wine. The casket was completely shattered, leaving us lying on the floor, littered and layered in thousands of rapidly disappearing sparkly shards of ice. My clothing went from being frozen solid to my body to the fire damaged reams of fabric left of the Volturi cloak I had stolen. Using the cloak to cover Bella's naked form, I hugged her gently and looked down.

My Bella was a vision! A miracle conceived in fire, baptized in ice.

Her supernal beauty stole every breath I would ever fake. Her mortal body once consumed and burned beyond recognition from the Phoenix fire, now left me scarcely able to believe the marvel of her otherworldly physical transformation. Hair of the deepest mahogany fell in thick, shiny lengths to the tops of her thighs, modestly curtaining her nude form from prying eyes. Pearl skin shone like a halogen moon in contrast to her dark tresses. Even her musculature was more defined, honed for power. She was a goddess. Changed, yes, but still my Bella. Her eyelashes fluttered. I braced myself for the loss of her beautiful brown eyes.

Her eyes were gold!

Wide as saucers, they scanned around the room quickly before focusing solely on me. Fanned by her thick, dark eyelashes, their brilliance was only enhanced. Truly the richest shade I had ever seen, and I'd been looking into the golden eyes of my family for almost a century now, even Carlisle's paled in comparison. I barely registered the gasps and low whispers of our family surrounding us.

Was the strange eye color the only unique physicality of her hybrid nature? How else was she different?

I pushed into her mind to ask her silently if she was okay...and hit a wall.

Our telepathic line of connection was broken!

I tried again, pushing everyone's excited mental broadcasting away so I could concentrate on Bella's mental voice. I harvested only silence. Had her shields been reinforced? Was this the reason Alice could be in her presence without losing her mind with the onslaught of visions they produced? If keeping me locked out was the trade-off for Alice to be without pain when around us, I could find a way to deal with the loss.

I tried to keep my overprotective, feral curiosity regarding her recent whereabouts on a leash, securing the chain with the knowledge I would find a private moment to talk to her about who plucked her out of the sky and what transpired.

The relentless buzz of my family's unvoiced reactions flooded my mind., as Bella and I stood up. Esme came to us immediately holding a long silk robe in emerald green for Bella to put on.

_Thank God, thank God she's back! Our prayers are answered!_

_I can't see anything of their future at all, yet my pain is gone, what did she do? My, my, my, look at those eyes._

_Extraordinary. Her hybrid nature must turn her blood into something completely different, the irises are saturated with...what exactly?_

_I reckon someone oughta cover her bits up before Edward's anxiety taps me out – it's bad enough without a peep show taking place - Oh thank God, Esme's here with a robe. Whoa Nelly! Are those tatted wings on her back? Edward is going to frea...too late. _

_TATTOO? There's a tattoo?_

Gathering my wits about me, I took the robe offered by Esme, and moved quickly to cover Bella. She was no doubt feeling the intense scrutiny of many eyes staring at her. I gave her a reassuring smile, trying to calmly absorb the changes evident in my love's physical appearance.

_Oh!_

I looked around her milk-white shoulders, drinking in the brand-like tattoo Jasper had remarked upon, the ruse of breathing forgotten. Wings, drawn and painted so lifelike in their appearance, I expected them to unfurl before my very eyes and take up the entire room with their span. Folded, they ran from the top of her shoulder blades with the tips brushing the back of her calves. Vibrant reds, oranges and yellows made them look as if they were wings of fire. I recalled the flaming Phoenix she'd transformed into before she destroyed the Volturi. Was this a permanent mark of her ability to change into the Phoenix? I shuddered at the thought of her transforming into that war-bird ever again, considering the toll it took on her mortal body. Would her new form be able to withstand it better?

"Edward? Is everything...am I...?" Her voice was butter soft, melting around the edges as her apprehension began to kindle.

Swallowing my own butterflies, I replied, "You are absolute perfection Isabella."

Eyes narrowing, she pinned me with a level stare. "You are not telling me everything. There's something different..."

With a speed I should have been expecting, she flew to the closest mirror, I closed in quickly behind her. Everyone else was still as stone in the background, the air thick with tension, concern for Bella the most prevalent. Placing my hands on her shoulders, we faced her reflection in the glass together,

"Your eyes are a brilliant shade of gold, and there is a...tattoo on your back..."


	7. Chapter 7

This chapter is dedicated to every one of you that are still kind enough to read despite my long absences between updates. I sincerely appreciate your patience and support.

3D, Dragondar and Navarre, your reviews and cheerleading has the power to light inspiring fires from exhausted coals.

This posting would not be possible without the amazing beta talents of Twiliteaddict and Gasaway Alley. Thank you so much ladies.

We pick up with Bella and her thoughts on her metamorphisis...

* * *

"A what?"

_A tattoo? _

Of all the things I imagined would be different with my body after the change, having a tattoo was certainly not at the top of the list. It wasn't even ON the list. I felt the weight of everyone's interest burning holes into me and experienced the familiar crush of embarrassment, but it lacked something ... gone was the shaming rush of heat that always resulted in my blushed skin. The feeling was terribly odd.

_One difference at a time Bella ... _I thought, trying to calm myself. The relevance of a mystical tattoo was enough to handle for the moment.

Edward's anxious eyes were riveted to mine, prepared to react to even the slightest indication of a freak-out when I looked in the mirror. I barely recognized the reflection staring back at me. The rippling power beneath the surface of this woman's form, practically shimmered off of her in waves. Her skin was mother-of-pearl and her eyes ...

_My eyes._

Gold.

_Golden Eyed Queen._

Xandru had called me that once.

My fingers reached up, delicately brushing the thick flutter of lashes lining my eyes, and I leaned in closer to the mirror. _What was I looking for? A contact outline? Mascara clumping? _The shape of my irises were much larger than they used to be. When I looked closely, I noticed a thick edging of black encircling the gold. The lining made the color appear brighter in a very unnatural, disconcerting way. No way I could pass for human with these.

My eyes looked like Leah's when she went wolf.

"Carlisle, my eye color and shape, could it be due to the wolf ... erm ... DNA in my blood?"

"It's quite possible. There are quite a few biological factors involved. You are a one-of-a-kind combination of human and supernatural beings. Anything goes in a genetic pool that deep." Carlisle's confident tenor tamped down my burgeoning nerves.

With a swish of my robe, I lowered the silken lapels over my shoulders far beneath the blades, and carefully examined my mirror image. The bright fiery plumes of the wings etched down my back, and looked as if I had been born with them. A birthmark.

_Birthright._

Alice appeared at my side and lit up the looking glass with her proud, beaming smile. She talked to my reflection, her eyes wide with wonder, buzzing with a million questions. Yet, she only asked one.

"How did you do it? The visions, those horrible awful visions are gone!"

Sharing Alice's visions of Edward dying exposed us to a depth of pain that would forever bind us. Turning to my dearest friend, I whispered back,

"It was a gift. " I knew my mysterious Deity had fixed the problem. Now I wondered if there was a price to be paid for Alice's peace? Fear prickled along my skin like tiny marching fire ants as I thought about the quest he had bequeathed me; _Find The Source._What would the consequences be if I failed in my new mission?

_I can't think of that particular pickle right now. _ I reached for my new mantra like a lifeline; _One thing at a time. _

Alice was no longer in pain and could be in my presence which was all that mattered for the moment. Dredging up a calm I didn't think I had, I looked deep into her eyes in an attempt to erase the mar of worry for the future we glimpsed. "It'll be all right Alice. I can explain the rest later."

Wrapping her arms around me, she hugged me tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you Bella. I'm so amazed by you." Nodding towards the mirror, she chattered like an excited squirrel with a nut.

"They are positively gorgeous, Bella. Don't you just love them?"

Honestly, all supernal responsibilities aside ... I kinda did. I'd always wanted a tattoo - of course not one this _large_, but, "I guess as changes go, this one is not so bad ..."

Just then, Jacob and Leah ran into the room with Em and Rose in close pursuit. Skidding to a stop, Jake uttered a wholly shocked, "What the blue blazes is that?"

"Those blazes aren't blue ... more red tones really." Emmett blurted out matter-of-factly, then backpedaled after Edward shot them both a glare that seethed, _d__on't upset my woman._The exchange made me grin.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Jake muttered.

"They are totally bad ass tho' Bells - so they weren't umm ..." Emmett shuffled his feet as he stammered in a very un-vampire like manner and pointed at my bare shoulders, "there before?"

"Certainly not." Edward, Jacob and I stated simultaneously. We all looked at each other with surprise at our unanimous reaction to Em's comment. I watched my family's reflection from behind me in the mirror. Esme was the first to snicker, covering her mouth and giggling behind its polite shield. Rose smirked. Carlisle wore an expression of amused wonder. Jasper winked lazily. At last giddy nerves bubbled to the surface, bursting the cork off the bottled tension in the room, giving way to the effervescent champagne of laughter. With a mild sense of relief, I turned from the reflection in the glass to look at them all head on.

What I saw made me want to blink and rub my eyes like they do in cartoons when they don't believe what's smack dab in front of them.

_And I thought the wings were strange!_

"Oh my God," I whispered, grabbing Edward's arm tight enough for him to wince in pain.

"Bella, what is it? You look as if you've seen a ghost."

Shocked by what I viewed around them, I struggled to find words. Colors, kaleidoscopic curlicues, riotous rainbows of color. Each loved one was wrapped in vibrant cushions of aureole light. Esme was mostly surrounded in emerald greens, whereas Carlisle was brilliant gold. Alice was bright sunshiny yellow, and Jasper was a cool blue sky. Emmett and Rosalie emitted fiery tones of oranges and pulses of red surged between Jacob and Leah. I turned to look at Edward whose aura shone a bright jewel-toned pink - the exact same shade that always surrounded us during our lovemaking.

For someone surrounded in pink light, he had a pretty serious look about him as he waited with feigned patience for my answer.

"I...I think I can see everyone's aura."

"How fascinating," gushed Carlisle. I raised my eyebrow at him, but held my tongue as I could see his chagrin at his outburst of curiosity, but he quickly switched gears and his impeccable bedside manner loosened my tightly wound nerves. "It's not unusual for humans to have the ability to see auras, so it stands to reason, given your bloodline, this would be one of your more 'enhanced' abilities with the addition of vampire venom to your system."

Carlisle's conclusion made sense. I distinctly remembered Renee going through a phase where she thought she could read auras. Perhaps she really could. Stranger things have happened. I most certainly was proof positive of that.

"I imagine there is much to be discovered in the extraordinary abilities you may possess as the days progress Bella … in all my centuries of experience, I have never heard of a witch as powerful as you changed into a vampire. Just know we are here for you and will help you come to terms with each new _upgrade _as they surface."

"That's all well and good, but I must say, this one is a little … distracting." I did appreciate Carlisle's logic and kind attempt to minimalize my fears about my new abilities. Edward squeezed my hand in support and sympathy. I had plenty of support around me, so getting my knickers all in a knot over something I had no control over was not going to do me any favors. I needed to pull my head together and simply learn to accept things as they come. In fact, now was as good a time as any to relax and center myself, perhaps find a way to tap into my power and dial down the aura-vision.

"I just need a moment … can you stand back Edward? Please?"

A shadow of doubt slipped across his face, but it was only the lowest caste ghost of his protective nature. Looking deep into the darker ribbons of color rolling and weaving within his aura, I discovered these tints were actually shadow-like recreations of scenes of our most intimate moments - both of us in a the large claw foot bathtub in the cabin, the few times we made love, running together in the In Between - they were all there for me to relive, looping over and over in a graceful cadence.

_One thing at a time Bella!_

In an attempt to stay on task, I avoided getting sucked into the past like Alice down the rabbit hole by pulling back and refocusing on Edward's face. He smiled at me and said,

"There you are. Lost you for a moment there, Beautiful. Where did you go?"

"Someplace I hope to revisit later," I purred back.

Sighing and giving him a playful push backwards so he could give me some room, I braced my feet and exhaled a meditative breath to anchor myself , clearing away the worry, the fear, the pride - all the negative energies threatening my stability. Once emptied, I focused on the ancient font of power under my feet, surrendering to Gaia's will. I needed to reconnect with Mother Earth before I could invoke the Goddess.

I now understood how to work with the power given to me through my blood and connection to the Goddess. This knowledge has always been within me. Once a dormant seed, it sprouted tendrils of possibility when Edward Cullen first walked into my life. It whispered to me from the ancient stories told around many the bonfire by the Elders in La Push. Wrapped me silently in its comforting arms while I read the histories of the mythologies and legends I poured myself into during the heights of my depression after Edward left. Roots pushed deep and grabbed sure to Mother Earth like a mighty Oak when my power was shown to me by the spirits of my ancestors; Adrastea, Aesa, Leda and Marie. They were gone now to the All. In their lessons, I learned the All was not so much the Christian ideology of Heaven, but the Beginning and End of Everything. Souls were sent out from it and returned when their work was done. I coped with their moving on by honoring their lessons. The ways of the Striga.

There was not a breath of sound in the room except for the low steady duet of Jake and Leah's hearts. To deepen my meditation, I looked beyond the tense and anxious faces of my family and took in the details of the room we were all in. It was large double parlor with leaded glass windows that cast prisms of rainbow-hued light over the herringbone inlay pattern of the hardwood floor. Rich, red and black velvet draperies hung at the sides of the large windows, a dramatic contrast to the walls covered with a cream on cream velvet flocked wall paper which had a regal mylar pattern. Standing proudly along the walls were built in shelves of blackened mahogany filled with books, some new and others - not so much. Carlisle had once told me the Denali Coven members were hundreds of years older than he was, so it was not surprising the room was furnished and decorated with such an eclectic blend of historical elegance, and obviously containing _original _pieces and not reproductions. Some leather bound codices were laid out on a working table in a sunny northern corner of the room. I pictured Carlisle there, poring over them for information while everyone waited for us to awaken. Always the scholar. From my peripheral vision I noticed the heavy drapes begin to sway as if someone had opened a window in the room.

_The Goddess was here!_

A small zephyr stole across the floor as She came to greet me as Air, one of her many elemental forms. She weaved around my legs like a familiar cat, a sultry sirocco stretching, spreading around my calves reaching up, up, up along the silk of my robe. Looping between my arms, two playful streams met and hovered over my chest, funneling together into a singular cyclone of power, poised with its tip at the center of my breast bone. Edward's anxiety rang like a bell within my body, and I knew he was reaching his limits for staying back. My hand shot out , palm forward, halting him from causing a breach in this sacred process, no matter how well meaning. At that very moment, the Goddess knew I trusted, and that I was ready.

The tornado touched down by slamming into my chest with a fury, then disappeared into my body. I squeezed my eyes shut as the intensity of all that power rushing through me was getting the best of me. It rattled around inside like a caged beast, looking for a way out. I visualized the wind plummeting to my feet, felt the gravitational pull as it drained itself into the earth, returning to the pulsing hot heart, the core of Life itself. My heart filled with love. Forgiveness. Understanding. The power She gave to me drummed the staccato beat of an adrenaline rushed heart within my iron chest.

"Use it wisely," She whispered on the wind, echoing all around the room as I felt her pull away and leave me.

The beat of my internal drum slowed its powerful pace, until it settled into the slow steady lubh dubh of a heartbeat, finally fading into silence.

I opened my eyes.

The last remnants of wind rustled the curtains and playfully flipped through the hair of my family. The brilliant splashes of color and light around them were gone and left in its place were the wan pale faces and dark eyes of my vampire family attempting to ignore their own starvation. Had no one eaten since the battle? Dear Goddess. They needed to feed, but they were all waiting to see that my needs were met first.

I turned to Edward, truly now seeing the shadowy purple half-moons resting beneath his eyes for the first time. I reached out and placed my palm against his cheek.

"You need to hunt. Perhaps we should take care of that?"

Placing his hand over mine he brought it to his lips and lightly kissed the end of my fingertips before placing our hands over his silent heart.

"Always thinking of others instead of yourself. At least we know that hasn't changed." He gave me a wry smile. "You are the Newborn in the room. How about you?" he asked softly. He dove, again, into the depths of my eyes to mine out any secrets I might still be keeping from him. My answering smile told him there were none. Carlisle cleared his throat to get Edward's attention, who gave him a quick nod of permission to carry out whatever his Sire's silent request was. I watched him leave the room then turned back to Edward to question why with a lift of my eyebrow.

"Carlisle and I had blood at the ready for you, should you need it. Are you feeling any hunger pangs at all? It would be an intense burning in your throat."

I closed my eyes to listen and divine my body's most base needs, but found only one thing I burned for. The room receded into a dark void as I focused on my most tantamount desire.

_Him_. All I wanted was Edward.

Something stirred within my stomach; a dense weight stretched and reached, urging me towards him. Folding myself into his embrace, his hands shifted from my shoulders, easing deliciously down my arms to rest at the flare of my hips.

"I'm okay, Edward." I whispered into his ear while he gathered me to him. I then realized he was not cold anymore. In fact, our body temperature must now be in tandem since he felt like any other human I had ever embraced.

As I held him the heat between us seemed to grow. The warmth spread across my body, turning my bones to rubber, causing me to swoon a bit and lean into him. Then the strangest thing happened, Edward's scent seemed to intensify, wrapping me up in a haze of... blinding need. My skin buzzed every where his touched mine, wiping my sense of propriety, hell ... my very reality receded into non-existence. I had no care or the ability to even acknowledge the presence of our family in the room. I pulled my hips towards him, feeling his hard erection press against me. His need strenuously and unabashedly echoed mine. Gone were his family, Jacob and Leah. Our bodies swirled in a vortex of lust and want and bated breath.

We rode completely on instinct.

Nuzzling against my lover's neck, drunk on his phantasmagorical pheromones, I could not resist brushing my lips against his Adam's apple. His hands moved from the curve of my spine up into my hair, gathering it roughly as my teeth scraped delicately against his once impermeable skin.

When the first drop of his venom touched the tip of my tongue, I wondered perhaps if "delicate" was the appropriate word to use as I had broken his skin! He sighed in surrender and muttered a low moan.

"Yessssssss..."

Sweet merciful Magdalene; _his taste!_

More! I _needed _more! My lips clamped a vise-grip over his ripened jugular, sweet like fruit, his venom flooded across my tongue as I drank in great pulls. He tensed against me; unmoving, soundless, waiting.

_Willing._

"Don't stop..." he pleaded fervently.

Shouts of protest rang too soon in my ears like an underwater dream and strong arms banded around me, ripping me violently from him.

_How dare they?_I righteously gnashed in my mind.

Screams erupted from my throat, scorching even my own ears with it's shrill levels. Anger thundered through my veins like a runaway horse as I struggled against my captors - Leah and Jake held fast even though the urge to phase was rising off them like heat off hot pavement. _Leah and Jake. I can't hurt Leah and Jake. They are my family. _My hands heated up and began to throb with the need to release defensive magic. I was not the only one being held under duress, Edward was growling and thrashing within the iron grip of over half of the Cullen's. The blinding haze of my primal need to be back at his throat dissipated, and I sobered with guilt soaked clarity; the ragged wound at my lover's neck bore irrefutable witness to my violence.

_I did that? _What the Hestia just happened?

Esme and Alice stood in front of me, the anguish on their faces echoed that of Edward's as he fought to reach for me.

Turning to Carlisle, who had returned in time to help restrain Edward, Esme asked him gently to let go.

"Esme …"

"Carlisle … she can't kill him. She won't kill him. Perhaps this is what she needs _instead _of blood."

"I think we should rule that out before she … " The word _kills Edward _loomed unspoken, a hulking thundercloud of fear in the room.

"Carlisle …" Edward ground out. His fists were clenched, his shirt torn from the struggle to get to me. "If she's not interested in the blood you have, you must promise me you will not interfere with her needs."

My throat constricted with the onslaught of emotion I felt for Edward's earnest plea to his father. This man walked through fire for me. He worked his necromancy and brought me into a new existence - forever with him. Now he was willing to be my … _egads._

_My sustenance?_

I had so many conflicting emotions about this situation. I was horrified by my actions, but also angry with everyone who kept us from what we both obviously wanted. Didn't he want this? Did he truly want me feeding from him? When I fed from Edward, the act seemed completely natural. This too scared me. Feeding this way didn't fit into my paradigm as an "ex-human", wolf or vampire.

_What the hell was I?_

"Bella … Bella darling, please, you have to know I'm okay with however this turns out."

"What if she drains you? Rosalie hissed.

Edward whipped his head around to his sister so fast I didn't see it move.

"If she can't feed, she can not exist without pain. Why wouldn't I put my existence in her hands? She has put hers in mine countless times. She saved you all and still you don't trust her?"

The depth of this drama was all too much. A dry sob escaped me, and Leah and Jake loosened their hold on me. One of them rubbed slow steady circles over my back for comfort. The mood in the room shifted quickly from wary tension to heartfelt empathy. Edward's brothers loosened their grip on him and, with a nod from Carlisle, and when they let him go, he flew to my side. Like a flower searching for sunlight, my entire body relaxed and leaned towards him.

Carlisle approached us with respectful caution and reached in to draw a packet of blood out of his breast pocket to present to me.

"Human or animal?" I whispered.

"Animal. Edward wanted to try that first before we resorted to human blood."

Leah and Jake stiffened in an attempt to hide their ingrained disgust. I don't know why they would even entertain the idea I would be okay with drinking human blood.

_Did they not know me at all? _

"No. No human blood, it's not even an option."

Nodding his head and smiling indulgently, my father- in- law was obviously pleased with my decision not to take human blood. "Wise choice Bella, it will be easier to control the cravings if you've never had it." He passed the blood pack to me and I pushed it back into his hands.

"I don't mean any disrespect when I say this Carlisle, but … I'm not drinking out of this bag like some kid with a mini sip. Especially with you all watching me as if I'm some sort of science experiment. If I'm to try animal blood, it will be after a successful hunt - there's no time like the present to learn this part of my nature - you are all starving and need to go, so I will simply come with."

I was answered by silence and uncomfortable glances between everyone else in the room. Not one would look in my eyes, but Edward. He stood there, in his ripped shirt and disheveled hair, a wry smirk inching his beautiful mouth into that lopsided grin I so loved. He took my hand to lead me out of the room,

"You heard her folks. Let's go."


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N - This update owes Mount Mckinley size thanks to Gasaway Alley for pushing me along. Your encouragement and beta skills are such a gift. Thank you so much. There is a cheeky new contest called Spank the Monkey and my other lovely beta TwiliteAddict and Rosabella75 have an entry entitled "Feel for You", set in the 1950's. Please make sure to check out their entry and vote for your favorites!**_

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Upon stepping out of the room we were in felt as though entering a completely different home. There was no silk damask to be found on the walls and no ornate renaissance furniture, or heavy sumptuous draperies. Instead was the rich amber glow of cedar log walls. I had never seen a log home constructed with trunks as large as these were. This was definitely no quaint "Little House in the Big Woods" cabin; the space was immense and open, rambling out a couple thousand square feet. Several portals branched off to hallways going beyond to rooms unimagined. The floor-to-ceiling windows framed a view beholding breathtaking promises as the creeping crepuscular light revealed the purple and grey mysticism of a spectacular Alaskan mountain range. I imagined in the pristine light of day, it was nothing short of Divine.

The centerpiece of the room was a towering, twenty foot tall totem of a red cedar tree. The bark had been removed to reveal the gorgeous gold tone of the wood beneath, while the timber gleam echoed the stark beauty of the hand-hewn log walls. The tree's root system reached across the slate tile floor like sturdy wooden tentacles. I hazarded a guess at the circumference of the tree being at least eight feet. Despite its petrified state, there still seemed a glow of life and purpose.

"Amazing isn't it? I chose this beauty myself." A slight, strawberry blond appeared from behind the massive trunk like a wood nymph. Running her fingers down the tree affectionately and looking about the place with barely concealed pride, the sprightly creature smiled at me with so much warmth and welcome, I couldn't help but be charmed. I dragged my eyes away from her long enough to notice a cozy sitting area of leather furniture behind her. A fieldstone fireplace rose thirty feet into the rafters of the house, while the inner hearth, tall enough for a person to stand in, cradled a large fire blazing and snapping happily within the ash pit. Two more stunning vampires stood off to the right with tentative smiles on their faces in greeting.

"Welcome to Legacy Lodge, Bella. I am Tanya Denali." She approached me with a bit of caution, I couldn't tell whether from fear, or respect - perhaps a mingling of both. Her eyes darted to Edward, who gave her the slightest of nods. Tanya's pace quickened and before I knew it, the tiny woman wrapped me in a strong, tight hug, dashing two kisses to my cheeks in European fashion before stepping back to study me with an appraising eye. Nodding to herself as if confirming something satisfied her, she turned to Edward.

" You know I love you, but even I wonder if you truly deserve such a magnificent female. Welcome to the family Isabella. Please," she reached for my hand, "come and meet my sisters, Irina and Kate. We've been anxious for your Awakening."

She ushered me past the dead imperial cedar while I numbly followed. It was all I could do to keep moving forward rather than stand gaping at the naked glory of the tree. The impressive height of the canopy branches pushed up to the second level of the Lodge. The balcony railing above was black wrought-iron twisting and curving into an intricate lace pattern. Chandeliers fashioned from the same matte-black iron hung from the rafters like exotic, filigreed blooms. I'm sure I looked as slack jawed as I felt, and I didn't care. I wondered if my newly-minted vampire senses were adding to the intensity of this experience, but decided against it. Wood, stone and iron came together in perfect harmony to make this place. Any being would have this reaction. Edward's bemused grin confirmed my suspicions; I was appropriately awed.

Leaning toward me, he whispered, "Tanya built the shell of the house in British Columbia then had it shipped up here to Denali." I couldn't think of anything to say but a mumbled 'Holy Cow'. My verbal skills were beyond the pale as I scarcely could believe such a diminutive creature could build such a mammoth structure.

_Wait a minute. Yes I could, actually. Is there anything vampires can't do?_

Noticing my silent worship of the ornate railings and lighting fixtures, he added,

"Kate did all of the ironwork, and Irina is the artist of the many wooden wild-life sculptures you will encounter throughout the Lodge."

My eyes followed Edward's to the rafters above us where a sculpture of a majestic eagle, wings spread in a ten foot wide expanse, pushed off one of the large beams. The detail was incredible - each feather painstakingly carved to shocking narration. Even unpainted, the massive piece of art required nothing more than the naked flesh of the golden wood it was fashioned from. In the predator's massive talons was a large struggling salmon, its mouth wide and gaping, while its scaled body arched violently. I put my hand over my still heart in fleeting pity for it.

If I felt such great compassion for a wooden fish, how the Hecate was hunting going to go? I felt a strange pull in my stomach and before I knew it, I was fixated on Edward's neck, looking desperately for remnants of my teeth marks; feeling strangely disappointed when I found none.

"Bella?"

The note of concern in Edward's voice snapped me out of my thrall. I traced my fingers idly over yet another statue, responding inanely to make him think I was simply enchanted with the house and not the memory of the sweet taste of his venom on my ...

_Focus Bella! _

"It's like they brought the beauty and magic of nature into their home."

Edward's face relaxed then he chuckled quietly to himself, his eyes seemed far away, as if recalling a fond memory. Though I was glad he couldn't read my thoughts, I felt a slight twinge of regret not being able to read his mind anymore. I began to understand how frustrating it had to be for Edward being unable to hear my thoughts after having access to everyone else's. I nudged Edward's shoulder with mine in a 'penny for your thoughts' prompt.

"The Denali sisters spent some time with us in BC during the late 60's and Tanya fell in love with the trees. We couldn't get her out of them. She would spend days, sometimes weeks scaling along the canopy, hunting to her heart's content. Em finally coaxed her down long enough to introduce her to an architect he knew who made incredible homes from her treasured trees. Tanya has a very intense approach to things she is passionate about . She designed this home as a labor of love for her giant BC Redwoods."

"It is breathtaking." I looked back to the room we emerged from and asked shyly, "So, why was the room we just came out of so different from the rest of this place?"

Tanya flashed a perfectly gamine smile back at us, "Oh that's Carlisle's room - an exact replica of his study from one of our old haunts in Austria. He always had such a fondness for stodgy old mithraic design and leather bound books. It's our way of keeping a bit of him with us always."

I looked back at Carlisle, who had a modest smirk twitching the corners of his mouth. Esme smiled in conspirational contentment as she twined her hand into his.

"Yes, nowadays it seems we don't get a visit unless you are on the lam from defeating the most powerful vampire dictatorship in over a millennia!" Playful sarcasm radiated from a tall Germanic blonde who stood by the fireplace. She strode over and shook my hand in a strong grip.

"Welcome Bella, I am Irina. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Irina! You know you are more than welcome to visit any time you wish." Carlisle volleyed back Irina's tease with a mock chiding tone.

"I would if it didn't take weeks to get the stench of wet, mossy mutt out of my nose after I came back." Irina's disgust looked too real and Carlisle's cringe confirmed the truth of her tone. Jake and Leah growled low in warning from behind me. I shot raised eyebrows at them in a silent plea to cool it. My fingers splayed at my side, arms rigid with the need to command power should a fight break out.

The third sister, a tall brunette, grabbed Irina's elbow and gave it a slight jerk as a reminder to stand down.

"Irina! The La Push Shifters are here as our guests, and you will continue to treat them as such."

"Kate..." Irina gritted through clenched teeth.

"You promised." Kate returned softly. Irina relaxed a bit but kept her arms folded across her chest. Closed off.

I offered Kate a shy smile of thanks, alternately shooting Leah and Jake one more desperate plea to take it on the chin and contain themselves. Dark looks from both confirmed that they were pushing their own comfort zones and it was solely for my benefit.

Jake took Leah by the hand and graciously gave me the out I needed,

"Bells, if it's all right with you, Leah and I are going to head back to the cabin and let the Elders know back home that you came through the ...change." Jake wiggled his fingers in air quotes with a roll of his eyes, "We've had the _tour." _I gave him my best scowl and he dropped his hands to his sides, only to bring them up in a shrug of sad defeat, his voice low with a hint of awkwardness "And I really think accompanying you during your hunt would ..."

"Probably not be a good idea." I finished for him quietly. Leah gave me a watery smile and Edward patted Jake on the shoulder, whispering his sincerest thanks to him, which with a curt nod, Jake accepted stoically. The couple left the room quickly, not sparing a glance at any of the vampires on the way out.

No one protested politely they should stay, yet the absence of the offer stained the air with slick tension. I let them leave with a pang of reluctance, but also relief. Pushing the issue for the sake of manners was definitely not going to happen. My role as referee did not have to be filled tonight of all nights. It was hard to deny the animosity that lingered between the Denali vampires and wolves. I felt very much like monkey in the middle.

But not tonight, Josephine. I mean, _come on!_

I'd just woken up from a visit with a deity who gave me a quest to kill a beast he couldn't the first time around. Furthermore, three days before that, I burned to death, got bitten by my vampire lover and awaited the pain of my physical change into...Goddess knows what , on a metaphysical plane bordering life and death.

So, I decided to give myself a break and told guilt to take a hike. It graciously left me almost as quickly as Leah and Jake left a room full of vampires.

Alice turned from watching the wolves leave the room and placed her hand on a cocked hip, looking me up and down in mock judgment. "Seriously Bella?"

"What?"

"You're wearing that for hunting? I don't think a green silk kimono is going to be very practical," she teased gently.

Alice's obsessive compulsive need to make sure I made all my wardrobe changes used to irritate me, but this time I saw the effort for what it was - A deliberate distraction to ease the tension from the room. Tanya then cursed in a language I didn't recognize and gave looks of apology to Edward and me.

"Of course, your room! I'm a terrible host!" Tanya's surprisingly self- deprecating personality surfaced as she rambled on, "Oh hi! Do you like my tree? You're gorgeous, come meet my sisters.." she mimicked the entire speech with a surprisingly good Valley Girl accent. I wondered where she spent the eighties. I couldn't help but stifle a snicker.

Edward leaned in to comfort her. "Don't be silly, Tanya. I assume Bella and I are in the East end of the Lodge?"

Her eyes sparkled with delight and a dash of devil. "Nope, you are going to be staying in the Eagle's Nest."

Em whistled his appreciation at our apparent fortune.

"That's the deeeluxe suite, Bells! Rosie and I love to do role playing in there, she was Little Ride Riding Hood and I was ..."

So many voices shouted his name simultaneously, that Em actually ducked, crouched and looked around with a confused pout before a shamed, 'What?' shrugged from his shoulders.

"Em, your stories about our sex life are getting to be a bit ..."

"Predictable?" Jasper responded dryly.

"Inappropriate." Esme and Carlisle chimed together.

"Borrrrrring." Sang Alice and Tanya together. To which they began giggling, only to break into rollicking, contagious laughter when Tanya let loose a rather indelicate snort.

I fell in love with Tanya Denali at that moment.

Blood may be thicker than water, but venom must be viscous as the Denalis and the Cullens were truly a family unit. And the way they all made room for me so easily, it was almost too good to be true. A large chunk of my nerves settled in the company of my new family members. I felt safe, accepted. I belonged. The Cullens brought me here for more than just the seclusion of the remote compound and the support of a sister coven. I was here to finally meet the other branch of their family tree to be welcomed, sheltered, and protected during a very vulnerable time for our family. These beings had soldiered centuries together and I would now join their ranks.

I considered the strength of the bonds I'd created with the Blacks and the Clearwaters during all those precious summer months, and then the last decade of my life. How finitely forged they became and how fiercely devoted I was to them.

A riptide of overwhelming emotion surged through me. I felt so much gratitude for these amazing creatures in my life. I watched them mingling, telling 'remember when' stories, laughing and teasing. My vision slipped to reveal their auras again. I stood in quiet amazement watching their streams of light dancing gloriously around them, reaching towards the equally brilliant colors of other family members, joining together in rainbow hued helixes.

_Reunion._

It's like their energy knew each other. I guess when you really think on it, if our muscles and senses have memory, why wouldn't our energy? I know vampires or wolves (and now humans) by smell, I know my lover by touch - why wouldn't I know, deep down in the place where intuition resides, the silent hum of the soul of a loved one?

I felt my own energy reach out to theirs and noticed the electric blue and silver colors of my power weaving amongst the rainbow hues of everyone else. They all turned to me at once and smiled.

They must have felt something when I joined their ecto-plasmic flashdance, as all the hub-bub instantly ceased to an echoing hush. I was surprised and creeped out at the same time, causing my energy to suck back into my chest with a silent whump. The pregnant pause of the eerie quiet made me blurt embarrassingly,

"I'm so happy to be here with all of you right now."

Edward wrapped his arm around my shoulder and crushed me into his side. I hid my face in his shoulder as I heard a few rumbled, 'Aww Bella's, and felt a collective need building for a group hug. Even without the habitual clues he used to navigate on, Edward sensed my deathly embarrassment and excused us. He eloquently begged off our need to get changed and have a "breather". This of course made me burst into a fit of inane giggles when I realized the irony of super beings who didn't need to breathe taking a "breather".

Yes. I _definitely _needed some downtime. I was giggling more than a giddy 12 year old at a Bieber concert. Everyone else was also a little too quick to offer their hearty agreement that we should do just that. Then again, laughing like a hyena over an irony that went over everyone else's head was certainly helping our hasty retreat.

Edward led me through the labyrinth of hallways, and as promised, we encountered many of Irina's life-like sculptures. There were lynx, caribou, even a few bears. Some were carved right into the mighty logs forming the walls. Edward indulged my need to stop and examine these amazing pieces whenever we came upon them. I felt I owed the artist, and even the subject the homage of my adulation as I lightly ran my fingers over the natural art.

Could I really hunt these beasts and feed upon them? Did I want to? Images of my teeth closing over Edward's neck flooded my brain, instantly recalling with perfect detail the rich drench of his life-force across my tongue. The look in his eyes when his family ripped him from me. Crazed. Glassy eyed. Was he even there? I had to at least try and see if animal blood would be an alternative. Worry wrapped cold hands around me, but I shook them off before I turned into a full blown mess of a panic attack. Sensing my building tension, Edward placed his hands on the small of my back. My body relaxed against his touch and he all but purred his approval.

I needed to redirect the nasty turn my thoughts had taken, and focused on being thankful. Thankful that so far, things seemed pretty normal, or instinctual at least. The infamous Newborn hunger was not ravaging my thought processes, and it was easy to distract myself, so far, by centering on the beauty of the Denali home. My powers also seemed to be under control. _So far._

I studied my mate and wondered just what was going on inside his head. He was the picture of his usual cool self, though he didn't fool me. I could sense tension creeping a choke-hold across his body, his eyes dark, haunted by burden cast in sidelong glances. I had a strange feeling in the pit of my gut he was hiding more than casual concern. I may not be able to read his mind but my body knew his without a doubt.

I threw the cold water of reason on the glowing coals of my paranoia once I considered Edward had ample excuse to worry. Especially since he seemed to be my instinctual choice as food. However, I got the feeling he didn't mind my needs so much as he minded his own. I looked at him beneath my lashes as he walked alongside me. Catching me, I shyly smiled but took note of the sudden flash of heat building in his eyes. I shivered at the spark igniting deep within me in response and sighed. I was anxious for privacy too, but I also knew we had to discuss some of the issues skulking after us like a big bag of shadowy unsaid. For instance, he had to be curious about where I went when I visited the mysterious god. Yet, in typical, infuriating Edwardian fashion, he pressed his own limits and indulged our meandering pace so I could drink in the beauty of the home and feel comfortable in my surroundings.

It took us forever to get to the Eagle's Nest with all the touching and tingling and petting - not all of it on the sculptures. I savored the delightful surprise of butterflies in my stomach, beating about, building upon the buzzing energy from the anticipation of what our room would be like, and of course, what we would do inside it. I wondered at these distinctly human reactions and how they could be so strong considering my physiological make-up was completely different. I shrugged off diving into those particular rabbit holes of thought when Edward and I turned a corner and came to a sudden stop in front of two, very large, ornately carved doors. Celtic knots wove dizzy intricate patterns into the shimmering, carefully finished wood.

"Bella, this room is beyond anything you could imagine, so I'm just going to open the door and let you walk in first."

I did a silly little jig of excitement on the balls of my feet, to Edward's amused delight, as he swept the double doors wide.

He was right. Nothing could prepare me. I had never been in such a magical place in all my life and I have wandered countless miles among the green jeweled beauty of the Hoh forest. There was a time the green and the wet of the woods surrounding Forks unsettled me. As a displaced teen from the earth-toned state of Arizona, the fertile fecundancy of the forest seemed so alien. I came to know and love it very much after Edward left me as I spent much of my free time looking for him; knowing he was out there but never seeing him. I reached for Edward's hand, squeezing it so tight with the memory of the loss of him, he actually flinched.

Besides Carlisle's room, every wall in this house was left as it was originally assembled, with the stacked gigantic cedars exposed. Imagine my surprise to see not wood, but rock from floor to ceiling. It resembled the sedimentary rock of a cliff face. Even though I knew it was impossible, as a rock formation that size would weigh tonnes and the house could never support its weight, it all looked incredibly realistic. I rushed over to it and ran my hands along the wall's surface. I could sense the hollowness, and turned to Edward quizzingly, "What is this?" Edward smiled and knocked on the stone, emphasizing the amazing trickery the material was capable of.

"It's a mixture of everything from polymers to cement to volcanic dust. Most eagles build their nests in high areas like cliff faces - hence the wall treatment in this room."

I loved the large linked log walls throughout the house, but this was truly a magical compliment in keeping with the woodsy, naturistic theme of the home.

"It's also a great way to disguise the irrigation system for the plants." Edward added. Living plants and mosses were thriving, green and glossy, tucked within various areas of the rocky surface.

He pointed out various small waterfalls emptying into a wading pool type canal that widened to flow into a hot tub disguised as a natural spring pool outside on the balcony. The rock wall extended into an overhang so it had a grotto type look.

I gasped at the view of Mount Mckinley. There was no...window. No glass I could see - it was extremely difficult to discern where the stone ended and the glass began. I wondered if the only access to the balcony was walking through the canal to the hot tub outside. I guess it was built by vampires. The elemental discomforts humans felt when combining wet and cold were of no concern to them. _Us._Edward seemed amused with my puzzlement. I narrowed my eyes at the glass I knew was there but couldn't see. Seamless. Amazing.

"Is there another entrance to lead to the balcony outside besides the grotto?" I had to ask, even though I knew he was dying for it. My pride could suffer, I couldn't help my curiosity.

He picked up a remote, clicked a button and the glass issued a a hissing pop as a vacuum seal broke, I looked towards the sound to see an open doorway of slim glass. I made a mental note to examine it closer later.

To the left end corner of the room, there was a smaller version of the Great Room's fieldstone fireplace. A striking black leather fainting couch with books piled strategically, yet casually, complimented its side. A fire crackled and snapped cheerfully in the hearth, answered by the rush of the min waterfalls. The conversation between the two elements in the background was as soothing as any prefabricated nature sounds CD. Though the floor was starkly elegant with its slate tile, lush carpets were placed about the grand room to add warmth and coziness.

Edward took both my hands in his and drew me towards the dais, upon which was staged a fairytale for a bed. I immediately thought of Tanya in her trees and knew there was a piece of her in its design.

Four, twelve-foot tall junipers stood as proud posts for the frame of a king-size bed. The trees were stripped of their bark, varnished to reveal their natural colors, and instead of the leaves which used to fill in the nudity of their branches, hundreds of white mini-lights twinkled beneath a rich emerald gossamer material. Within the charming woodland-esque copse, the bed was covered in gleaming white cotton.

I looked from the stead to Edward and froze. His look went from playful to intensely dangerous in a blink. I suddenly got it and saw what he had been holding back from me the entire journey to this room. Raw, uninhibited desire scorched across his skin, tension riding in his stance. Much more tension than he had earlier. He was restraining himself and losing. My reaction to this revelation crackled with a combination of fear and arousal. The predator in him, or me, simply awakened, roaring a deafening symphony of sexual need. It became combustive gasoline in our veins and the sulfur black of his eyes was about to snap into flame.

"Bella..." he growled, leaning into me. With the silk of my robe tangled in his hands, he spun me over to the bed. It wasn't a move for dominance so much as it was one for urgency. The backs of my calves hit the bed's edge and the only thing keeping me upright was his tight grip, and my own sudden desperate, consuming need to be skin to skin with him.

"Wait ..." I placed my hands on his chest.

He grimaced - and with a steadying hiss of exhalation, he placed his forehead against mine. "Yesssss?"

"What about everyone waiting for us to go hunting?"

A rueful smile quirked at the corners of his mouth when he pulled back to look at me, his eyes glittering smug satisfaction of having justification at the ready. "Isabella. The family will have no problem giving us a few hours to ourselves. I'm sure they are probably in need of respite as well , considering they've been in the dark and keeping watch over us for three days."

I inhaled to give him a "but" when he placed his fingers on my lips and shook his head gently. His voice was whisper quiet, control over his emotions slipping soundlessly in a rush of air, warming a warning against my cheek, "And during those three days, I have watched you smite an entire army and die horribly from fire. I have given you my venom, walked the planes of life and death with you, then watched you disappear for god knows how long only to reappear reborn as an ...uncommonly controlled vampire."

"About that ..." I squeaked.

"Later." His voice was rough, his grip on me tightening. I knew for certain he was not holding back physically. The pressure of his grip was intense and becoming painful. He flinched, catching my poor attempts at concealing my discomfort, and pulled me up straight, letting go once I was steady. He looked down at his hands, seeming surprised he had manhandled me. Quickly, he stepped back to give me, or himself, some room.

"Edward..."

"Bella, I'm so sorry." _Ah, the old Edward._

Reaching for him silently, I let him know I was unharmed. I grasped his hand, turned it over to drop a kiss on his upturned palm, and laid it against my heart. I looked into his eyes, letting him know with certainty how unafraid I was. I recalled the desperation he felt to be with me, and the reasons he gave! A smile stretched across my face to which he remarked,

"What could you possibly be grinning about?"

"Not an hour ago, I was convincing myself to let go of the guilt I felt for Jake and Leah being in a place where they feel unwelcome, with the same reasons you gave for wanting to be with me."

"So you understand then, if I play that card and insist that we have some much needed..._alone time."_

He drew within inches of me, then slowly pressed his body against mine, leaning down to breathe in my ear,

"I need you Isabella. _Now_."

Dizzy with disorientation from the power his desire invoked, I dropped my head backwards, inviting him to nibble along my neck; in which he RSVP'd quicker than I could sigh. I was so unused to him being the same body climate as me, the barrier his cool temperature had subliminally placed, melted between us dissolving our differences; making us one. I felt like I was fusing into his very skin.

Picking me up, he brought me over to the bed, but I have no memory of getting there. The look on his face was one I had never seen before, the intensity of the passion and need was ...visceral. His eyes were onyx stones focused on mine, I couldn't fathom looking away. I felt his fingertips slip beneath the lapels of my robe, gliding up and over naked shoulders. Reaching for him, wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled him against me with an undertow of desperation. His hands untied the sash of my robe in a flurry of movement. As it fell away, his dark eyes glittered with primitive want, his thumbs tracing loving, lazy circles over my stomach.

Every single part of my body responded to that look in his eyes, his touch on my skin, like firemen to a four-alarm fire. Perhaps when my mind wasn't so foggy with lust, and I had a moment of bravery, I would ask Carlisle how the physical responses of my body could be so, considering my heart did not beat. As for now, the rhythm of my answering carnal need for him was beating a sultry samba across my body. His head bent down, taking a nipple into his mouth. My senses exploded with the feel of his warm mouth around me, his tongue darting back and forth over the tip. I let go of his head, giving him freedom of movement. Arms falling back in surrender against the bed, I arched towards him. In a luxuriating zip, my hands streaked over the crisp cotton to grip his hair, letting him know without question;

_Yes. Now._

I felt his delicious mouth curve into a wicked smile before he pulled away from me. Hoisting up on my elbows I watched him undress.

_Yes. Join me._

I posed, purred, presented myself to him in an unbelievably lascivious manner, and somewhere buried deep down, I'm sure a part of me would be shocked at my behavior, but no one was listening to her at the moment.

Edward, however was certainly listening to what the rest of me had to say. His entire body was vibrating, straining, in anticipation of my bold offering. Crawling across the bed towards me like a savage satyr, with the backdrop of the naked branches of our bedposts, it was easy to imagine him as Pan. Eyes wildly triumphant and fierce with the need to mate, to claim me.

_God to Goddess._

We gave ourselves over to the that most sublime grounding act - the devouring of flesh and the moves of the mating dance made eternal by every pair of lovers since the beginning of time.

And not once did I want to eat him.

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**Endnote:** I was recently interviewed by the lovely Webmistress TaintedDarkInuShemeeku for her blog Amber and Emerald Eyes in their Author's Corner. If you are curious and want to check it out, the address is

http:/ amberandemeraldeyes DOT webs DOT com / authorscorner DOT htm

Have a great weekend!


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N**_ – In the spirit of Halloween, I am raising things once thought dead...muuaaaha ha ha..._**IT'S ALIVE! **_

Thanks to some desperate necromancy, and the super speedy, ever ready editing talents of Twiliteaddict and Gasaway Alley, I have a chapter for you in EPOV and a promise that finishing this story is my National Novel Writing Month goal. I am finishing _From the Ashes _so I can start 2012 with a clean slate to devote to a new and exciting writing project.

Happy Halloween everyone. Thanks for reading!

* * *

I have spent most of my existence tempering the base, carnal designs of the beast I chained and locked up inside myself. The brief reprieve I gave it when I left Carlisle and Esme to glut myself on blood and amorality left an indelible stain on my soul, one I sought to scrub and scour away in the reclaiming of my "civility". Converting back to animal blood had not been easy, but I managed to conquer the constant crave for decades. Then came my Bella. Acclimating myself to the powerful siren scent of my singer, was a sweet, torturous, misery, I gladly endured to be in her presence.

Yet, those desperate desires paled in comparison to the one I had for Bella on our way to our room in the Eagle's Nest. The teasing glances we shared, the touches offered and taken along the way, stoked the building fire inside of me. I could not stifle the insistent urge to claim her, take her beneath me, and know without a doubt she was here, whole. _Wholly mine. _

I needed to connect with my mate on a physical, emotional, cellular... hell, possibly sub-atomic level if you take into consideration the sheer quantum physics of travelling between the planes of life and afterlife. Now that we both made it back, I could accept nothing less than my body becoming one with hers.

Resembling a goddess upon a woodland altar, her burnished mahogany hair fanned around her head before winding around her body like a living, shining thing. Such was the irony of our change – the moonlight and ashes of our complexion and the silence of our once beating hearts seemed to be the only evidence that life was extinguished from our bodies. Being labelled as dead things was unfair when we were, in reality, immortal and full of godly vitality. Seeing Bella in all of her magnificence, I could not bring myself to think of her as dead or anything less than what she had been before. I had been a fool to think otherwise. A fool for believing she would become a monster. There was _nothing_ monstrous about her! I realized with great humility my mistake of projecting my own damaged self-worth upon her, how wrong it was to use it as an excuse to push her away. She never saw me as the beast I believed myself to be, and I never understood why until now. It took her death and resurrection for me to realize becoming a vampire may stop a heart, but it never changes one. No matter what form she took, she was still my soulmate. I stood before her, shaking and positively crazed with unchecked lust and the need to possess, she met my predatory stare head-on.

Her lack of fear and inhibition undid me.

_Released me._

Bella's golden eyes burned with an intensity that left no doubt she needed me as much as I needed her. The moonlight caressed her skin, coaxing the surface to shine like mother of pearl, making my knees tremble. Soft moans filled my ears as she writhed beneath me, unleashing the most wild parts of me, which rutted, sniffed, and pawed for _more- _demanding it and giving it in return- _more_ skin, _more_ heat, _more_ orgasms than either of us could count.

I swear I grew horns, and like a lustful satyr, I devoured her body as the hours stretched and dwindled. We loved savagely, then slowly. Savouring every slip of skin on skin, our most intimate sounds echoed off the walls in an unending loop. Sighing, crying, dying in the throes of release, constant as waves upon the ocean we drowned in our passion for each other. The room was awash with a rose light as Bella's blue and silver energy wove throughout the room, winking like stars and lightning strikes across every surface each time I brought her to release. I had the pleasure of seeing the splendour of the northern lights many times over the years visiting Alaska, and I could honestly say even mother nature's most infamous light show could not compete with ours. Magic and sex perfumed the air, a heady exotic incense which purged our inhibitions, igniting our sexual fury into a fire that burned steadily throughout the night.

Morning light crept in around us, reminding us gently the world still spun, and in the break of dawn, Bella finally told me about her visit with the mysterious god. I considered carefully everything she had told me, and she allowed me my silent pondering, waiting patiently as I sorted through it all.

I kept coming back to the boat. There had to be something we had overlooked to indicate _who_ he was.

"Tell me again, Bella darling, what the boat was like?"

"Well, it was more a yacht, very modern – yet the landscape around us seemed timeless. The houses were modest earthen structures, like something you would see in a dry, desert climate. The river was quite large." Her brows furrowed as she dug deeper, trying to recall more.

A look of triumph flashed across her face and she blurted, "There was a name on one of the life preservers – _Mandjet_!"

"Man jet? Why would he call a fancy yacht a "man jet"?" I scoffed.

"No," Bella laughed, "Man-d-jet, with a _"d"_. Hmmm, maybe the_ d _isn't silent...," she pondered.

"And you say this god looked exotic? Perhaps East Indian?"

Bella shook her head back and forth.

"No, he was more, middle eastern... maybe Egyptian?" she offered hopefully.

The pieces snapped into place, the surroundings, the mighty river, a "retired" Egyptian deity on a boat named Mandjet. Recalling with perfect clarity my decades worth of studies on ancient pantheons, I knew I was right.

"Of course! Egyptian! I don't know why I couldn't see the connections before..."

"Well? Who was it?"

"Bella, I believe you were sailing the ancient Nile with the sun god, Ra."

Bella's eyes held shining hope I was in fact right, but her lips held the pucker of doubt, which I would have kissed away had our conversation not taken such an exciting turn.

"How can you be sure? Maybe it's someone else? Like Osiris? Or Anubis? There are quite a few male Egyptian deities to choose from. With so little to go on, we can't afford any mistakes."

"We actually have more to go on than I thought, once you offered up the yacht's name. It's definitely Ra if the boat was called _Mandjet. _If I remember my legends correctly, Mandjet was the name of the vessel he rode across the River Nile to bring the Sun across the sky. Legend goes, his people began doubting his power, so he unleashed the _Eye of Ra_ upon them...but as he already told you, that didn't go so well."

"Right. The beast became consumed with bloodlust and almost destroyed all of his people."

"Ra asked for the council of Thoth, the god of knowledge, how to capture his chaotic creation – and Thoth convinced him to dump every barrel of beer he could find into the river Nile and dye it with a reddish ochre to the colour of blood, which would lure the abomination into glutting itself into a drunken sleep."

Bella's eyes narrowed. "And that worked?"

"Yes, the all-powerful, indestructible _Eye of Ra_ got knackered on malt liquor and passed out cold, allowing Ra to get close enough to undo what he had done."

"Very clever. I like this Thoth – he works smarter, not harder. I guess it helps to know your enemies' weaknesses. Just like it's good to know their origins. Which brings me to _how _did Ra create it?"

"How did he make the _Eye_? Well, there are many variations of the legend... let's see... they both involve the deities Hathor and Sekhmet. Most legends say Hathor, upon hearing Ra's plight, was enraged by humanity – for she was the goddess of Creation and had created them. She saw their disrespect of the sun god Ra as supreme blasphemy. One legend states she was then was transformed by either her rage and volition of her own power, or that of Ra's, into the Warrior Goddess Sekhmet – also known as The _Eye of Ra_. Sekhmet was a lion-headed goddess whose blood thirst ravaged most of Egypt. But, after she drank Thoth's pseudo bloody brew, she became the gentle goddess Hathor again."

Bella's lips pursed as she turned over in her brain the few pieces of the puzzle before us.

"Are there any legends that talk about Hathor and Sekhmet being two separate entities? The story Ra told me made it sound like he separated the good part from the evil part. The evil, called _The Forsaken_, was the half he banished."

"I suppose that is possible, I mean, first and foremost,_ he was_ _there, _so if he says he divided them, then I don't think we should discount what information he had given us. You did mention the "good part" was a goddess of creation known as _The Source,_ right?"

Bella nodded with an excited gleam in her eye. We were tying together the frayed threads of truth between legend and fact.

"So that jives with Hathor's role in popular legend as a goddess of Creation. Hathor must be _The Source_. Sekhmet is also known as the goddess of Pestilence, Disease and War... things which aren't particularly pleasant... it makes sense she would be the part that was banished."

Bella exhaled steadily, then looked at me as if she was hoping this was all a joke. She shook her head in disbelief.

"So, I'm supposed to go all Dog the Bounty Hunter on this Forsaken, who could be Sekhmet, an ancient Egyptian goddess of War?"

"I guess hunting caribou or bear doesn't sound that drastic in the scheme of things..."

My vision suddenly went dark as a pillow smacked me in the face.

"Smart ass," she growled before reaching under the sheets to pinch my behind.

"Look! Hey! Stop!" I laughed as she pinched and tickled me playfully. "Just because you can now, doesn't mean you should!"

"_Oh really?_" she hedged, an elegant eyebrow arching in cheeky challenge. Bella loved that my once unyielding skin was now pliant to her. Her lascivious grin held evil traces of smug satisfaction as her actions brought forth noises of pain from my lips. However, she was quick to kiss and sooth away any hurts, real or imaginary, and I was perfectly content to let her.

After a few more pinches and puppy tussling gropes beneath the beleaguered sheets, Bella cuddled into my side and huffed a huge sigh across my chest.

"What is it, love? Are you worried?"

"Well, really Edward, if I wasn't worried, I would be arrogant, and we both know how dangerous that can be."

I cleared my throat and thought briefly of Aro, a chill settling at the base of my spine. I was so wickedly thankful that monster had met his end. My fingers tightened around Bella's.

"You can do anything you set your mind to Isabella Swan, and you know you have a small vampire army at your back in my family alone. When you consider the millions you emancipated..."

"Edward Anthony Mason, for the love of all that is holy, don't start saying I should crown myself regent of the race just because..." Her eyes blazed with anger and a flicker of fear. Considering the use and invocation of my true birth name, I knew I had truly spooked her and had to clear up the misunderstanding immediately.

"No, sweetheart. I'm just saying whatever trouble comes your way, you will not be without aid."

Her body relaxed against mine, but not as much as I would have liked. It was time for a subject change.

"What do you say we get dressed and go hunt for something to eat?"

"I suppose. Though, I'd rather just stay here and nibble on you all day." She looked around the room with a grin, "I can definitely see why Em and Rosie liked to play Little Red Ride-Me-Good up in here".

"Isabella!"

"What? Em is the only one allowed the pervy jokes? You have no idea what living nine years among wolves will do to one's sense of humour." She leapt off the bed gracefully and sashayed to a dresser to look for clothing, no doubt placed there by Alice. Snatching a pair of random lacy loveliness from a drawer, she watched me, watch her slipping into them. She took her time baiting me mercilessly. I growled low in my throat to warn her not to poke the bear. Smiling broadly she cocked her hip and assessed me with a deadly gleam in her eye.

"Hunting with you is going to so... much... _fun._"

"Oh really?" I quipped sarcastically. Her fingers trailed up her delicious curves, winding a lazy trail around her pink areole.

Though I was twenty feet from her, I sprung and pounced with the ease of a giant cat, pressing her into my body as I lifted her up on to the dresser, her laughter low and throaty in my ear as she breathed her seductive promise;

"_Really."_


	10. Chapter 10

A/N – A special thank you to Twiliteaddict and Gasaway Alley for your editing magic. I could not do this without your talents!

Okay readers, I know it's been a while, but I am back, and extremely pumped to finish From the Ashes. This chapter is in Eleazar's point of view. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

_I was a marked man._

I knew with absolute certainty, my cover as Eleazar Morales, retired and respected Volturi Guard would be forfeit once Sulpicia learned of Xandru's treachery. It would not take long for her to reach the conclusion I was his connection to the OurosBouros, The Brotherhood of the Eternal Return, a secret opposing fraternity she thought she had eliminated. Only the sire would have enough thrall over a newborn to nurture their human memory without splitting their mind.

It would also not take long for Sulpicia to realize I was the thief who had stolen her precious bottle.

Before news could arrive in Volterra of Aro's defeat, I had taken advantage of the reduction in guards to smuggle Sulpicia's prize toy out from under her nose. The delicate glass bottle seemed harmless enough, but inside was a very disturbed and very powerful Djinn. _The _Djinn, who was created by the Sun god Ra to protect his daughter Hathor from her twin sister, Sekhmet. Knowing the Djinn was not an even match for the Warrior goddess, Ra stripped Sekhmet of her godhead, and she became known as The Forsaken. Revenge being a dish best served cold, The Forsaken spent centuries training herself in the darkest magics to replace her loss of power from losing her godhead. She re-invented herself as Sulpicia, wife of the Volturi Lord Aro, and with her husband's deadly vampire army, Sulpicia stole the Djinn from her sister, nearly capturing Hathor in the process. Entrapping the Djinn in a magical bottle, Sulpicia made him her slave and cursed him to never remember his love, Hathor.

Xandru's position as Aro's left hand and favourite pet, enabled him to get close enough to study Sulpicia's patterns. He had discovered when Sulpicia took to the Oubliette to exorcise her infernal caprices through torture and black magic, she was so caught up in the throes of bloodlust she was completely oblivious to anything but her quarry. I waited until she locked herself in her deadly den after Aro's departure for America, and used my ability to ghost unseen into her private chamber, and re-claim Hathor's Djinn.

I felt the sickening, cold fear rise up again, spreading across my body like mortal disease. This constant, needling anxiety of waiting for the other shoe to drop, made me want to fetch my wife, Carmen, and hide away, especially since that other shoe was a four-inch stiletto with a very pissed off ancient goddess in it. This feeling of dread was amplified by my inability to consistently block the negative soul sucking energy from the spirit in the damned bottle I carried.

The moment I left Volterra with the bottle, sheer terror of which I had never felt its kin, coursed through me, as I wondered how much power Sulpicia would unleash in looking for me. What would happen if I was caught? I resisted the undertow of fear by remembering Xandru and his sacrifice. Could I do no less for my son, whom I sired and mentored? Xandru had ripped time and worlds apart to find the Striga Legacy, his mortal bloodline.

His memory strengthened me, lighting the darkest caverns of my cowardice.

Three days after Xandru's death, the loss of him ripping through me like a fever, I found myself shuffling along with a group of tourists towards the Temple of Hathor, praying the glamour to disguise the subtle shimmer of my exposed preternatural skin would hold.

As I walked beneath the lintel of the Gate of Domitian and Trajan, I could not help gazing upwards, noticing right away the hieroglyph representing Hathor's symbol – a sun disc resting between the horns of a cow. Hathor was an Egyptian goddess of Creation, but to the OurosBouros, she was The Source, whom we were sworn to protect. For centuries, our allegiance to her was absolute, wrought with sacrifice as Sulpicia rooted out our hiding places. The Volturi and their guard murdered Brother after Brother, the only remaining members were Xandru, our High Priest, Amun, and myself. Our best cover was pretending we did not exist, that Sulpicia had indeed succeeded in eliminating the Brotherhood along with the Striga bloodline.

I had wasted no time contacting the High Priest Amun, once I had finally procured the Djinn's bottle. He insisted on checking it over himself, sending a private plane to Paris to retrieve me, with instructions on how to proceed once I arrived in Egypt. Clutching the bottle to my chest, I recalled Amun's dogged insistence capturing the bottle back from Sulpicia was crucial to our mission within the Volturi camp. If the Djinn could not be repossessed by the OurosBouros, every sacrifice made by every Brother would be for naught.

There was no way I would let Xandru's death be for naught.

For such a long time, the Brotherhood's situation seemed hopeless until Xandru found the long awaited Champion, predicted by his Striga forbears. Isabella Swan was the great- granddaughter of his long lost sister, Leda. She was to become The Golden Eyed Queen, a powerful chimera created in combining witch, shifter and vampire DNA. Isabella was a miracle prayed for over centuries. Though still undergoing her transformation, soon she would rise from the ashes of her victory over the Volturi to complete her destiny. And even though the actualization of the first stage of prophecy gave me hope, my heart still mourned the loss of my Brother, my son. I wished he could be here to taste the victory he wrought with Isabella. He would be pleased to see the Djinn finally being returned to it's rightful place.

_Rightful place?_

_Where was the Djinn's rightful place, now? What could possibly be done for the damaged Djinn after years of slavery for a sadist?_ Despair gripped me with razor claws again as the Djinn projected his caustic energy with renewed intensity the closer we got to the Temple.

Of all the places Amun could have told me to bring the Djinn, The Temple of Hathor was certainly not what I had in mind. The Temple was too public, too open and impossible to defend should Sulpicia catch up to me. I truly had to struggle to camouflage my disdain as I looked about at the security detail for this national treasure. They wore street clothes with antiquarian machine guns strapped across their bodies, and a few guards were actually goading the tourists into having their pictures taken with them, proudly displaying their weapons. The shameless hustle of it all disgusted me. The irony of finally meeting my High Priest in this tourist-infested ghost of a once proud and mighty temple to my goddess began to rub me raw.

I did my best to blend in with the small band of tourists, even though my mood was taking a nosedive. I searched for some much needed perspective before the scalding paranoia burbling beneath the surface boiled over. Emotions this thick and heated were not something I was accustomed. Since my ability to block the preternatural talents of others seemed to be shorting out like bad electrical wiring, I had to keep assuring myself it was indeed the Djinn amplifying my emotional turmoil, and disrupting my shields. Somehow this knowledge anchored and strengthened my will, combatting tirelessly the restless, unsettling mania rooting through my spirit like a rabid parasite. I thought the hardest part would be stealing the Djinn from The Forsaken, not physically carrying it_. _If I carried this bottle much longer I wondered if my control would erode like the paint from the Temple walls.

Djinn were particularly volatile spirits, and I should have considered chances were good a Djinn who had been Sulpicia's slave for centuries would not be an easy mule. I pitied the poor souls Sulpicia had ordered the Djinn to destroy. But, the Djinn I pitied more. He was robbed of love, even the _memory_ of it, therein crushing any chance of hope- chained to work for a mistress who dealt in death and destruction!

Pity aside, I could not wait to get rid of the thing, even though I spent centuries planning the Djinn's emancipation. I wondered again what Amun would do with it. He would have to do something with him before returning him to The Source. After all, the Djinn had no memory of her, and was too volatile in his present state to be trusted around the goddess. Knowing personally how strong Sulpicia's magic was, I highly doubted Amun could remove the curse...or was it possible he was that powerful of a mage? He should be if he was The Source's High Priest. With all of the Brotherhood except for Xandru and I wiped out, our exile as spies did not afford me much opportunity to learn much about Amun and his origins. All I knew was that he was a very powerful, immortal sorcerer chosen by Hathor to be our leader and her right hand after her Djinn had been stolen. Needless to say, I was looking forward to finally meeting the elusive, enigmatic High Priest and use my ability to discern for myself how much power he truly had.

Thankfully, Amun had booked me in with the last tour of the day, so even if my glamour protecting my identity as vampire gave way, the sun was not so punishing as it began it's descent in the sky. The pace of our group as it ambled towards the promising shade of the Temple, however, was agonizing for me. Everyone happily snapped pictures, moving along like stunned cattle. The only sign of life in the group was Jaru, our flamboyant, but exceedingly brilliant, tour guide. His crisp, perfectly enunciated English cut through the idolatrous din of the tourists. His easy manner and penchant for theatrics made the tour bearable even though my nerves were tenuous.

"Come with me now my friends...are you following? Yes? Keep up, my ducks and there will be plenty of time leftover later to explore and take pictures."

He was a slip of a man, his wiry frame hidden beneath the voluminous folds of his black Bedouin caftan. With his ebullient personality, he charmed the tourists while keeping a sharp eye on stragglers, herding them like a well-trained sheep dog. Jaru's most interesting prop was a tall ebony staff with an ornately carved gold snake winding from tip to top. The pommel was the snake's fearsome head, with fangs bared and eyes jewelled. It was ferociously bewitching. As he walked ahead of us, he swung it back and forth like a drum major in a parade, occasionally using it as a pointer for various ruins surrounding the temple, describing what their purpose once was with a showman's flair for the dramatic in his animated storytelling.

Outside, the Temple's structure weathered the elements with much more grace than the eroding archway and ruins surrounding it. Imposing pillars supporting the portico were adorned at the top with the Goddess's cow-like face. Her wide eyes, bovine ears, and a Mona Lisa smile serenely observed the desert landscape, now claimed by a booming tourist industry. Her bright paint had been long removed by time abrasive sandstorms, however, with her denuded face the strong, stoic stone attested to the devotion and skill of the masons who sculpted her. I could not help but be filled with pride despite my sour mood.

Leading us inside the structure to the Hypostyle Hall, Jaru delivered a well-rehearsed history of the temple as we all stood dwarfed amongst even more of the gigantic towering columns,all adorned with the goddesses face, and a dizzying array of hieroglyphics. Birdsong filled the quiet space with life. The flap of their wings and swoop of their bodies amongst the pillars could be seen and felt, giving an edge of excitement and vivacity to the solemnly spiritual space. There had to be thousands nestled within the eaves. Though aged and worn, I marvelled at the miracle of this temple to attract life. I stood in stunned bewitchment of the powerful dizzying artistry of the ancient glyphs carved into every square inch of usable space. Our guide allowed time to digest the overwhelming beauty of it all, watching us with a smile of satisfaction and pride, answering questions before continuing on.

"Placed on foundations of much older structures, the ambitious Emperor Tiberius ordered the temples' construction just before the birth of Christ, to curry favour with the Ptolemies. Napoleon found her over eighteen hundred years later, partially buried in the desert sands, housing beggars and thieves from the harshness of the desert. The infamous general pulled her from her dry grave, and resurrected her spirit and beauty. Over two centuries of careful restoration are the result of the magnificence surrounding you, dear friends. Now, if you look up, which I see most of you are doing, you will see the revelation of the ongoing painstaking work of removing the centuries of smoke damage from fires lit within the temple."

In varying cordoned off areas within the hall were ladders and scaffolding with dozens of workers carefully cleaning the ceilings. The phrase "whistle while you work" took on interesting connotations as the chirping, joyful birdsong blended in tandem with squeaks of ladders being used by the workers. Their delicate, methodical efforts peeled back the smoke-stained veil of time, revealing a pale shade of sky blue background within the cartouches. Red ochre sun-kissed the skin of gods and goddesses. Black kohl glared solemnly as the Eye of Ra, it's foreboding stare unforgiving and absolute.

"Every temple was astrologically chosen, to harness the powers of the heavens. They were vessels, receptacles of celestial energy. The priests of the temple would channel this energy to the civilizations built around them. When the temples of the Egyptian Empire fell, Egypt fell. You see my friends, when you cut the heart out of a country's spirituality, the people fade." He paused for dramatic effect. The silence from the tourists served to enhance the sound of the wind chasing about the large pillars. Pleased he had achieved the effect he desired, Jaru tapped his stick on the floor and waved his hands towards the eastern wall. He marched towards it, his staff pointing at one of the larger murals.

"Follow me, yes, follow me. You see there?" With his beautiful walking stick, he gently tapped the figure of a male Egyptian god standing next to Hathor. "This man with the face of a bird and the tall hat...it looks like two large feathers on top of his head. You see him, yes?" Jaru smiled a wide crocodile grin, goading his flock to respond and ogle the treasure he was so anxious to show them. "Does anyone know who this is? You will find him on every great temple across Egypt. He is the only god of the Egyptian pantheon who walked the earth as a man. I will give you hint...it is not Jesus, though those images were inscribed sometime near his birth!" Jaru snorted over his secret and barely understood scholarly jibe. Then the guide's eyes lit up as he found his volunteer.

"How about you there? Beautiful young lady with the pendulum. How smart of you to bring it! This is a place of power, hmmm? The ancients thought so. Yes, yes, they certainly did. The heart still beats strongly here."

He pointed towards a young couple, covered with esoteric tattoos and jewellery. The man was poring over the hieroglyphs with his camera while his partner dangled a pendulum at the threshold of the temple. The clear, quartz crystal spun in a wide circle, even though the fingers and hand holding the chain it swung from remained still. " Honey, get this on camera! It's reacting to leyline energy," she whispered. The male positioned his camera to shoot the swinging shard of crystal. Jaru waited patiently, smiling like a parent amused with a child's fantastical indulgences.

The young woman looked to the guide with fascination flushing her face, while the pendulum swung. Her free hand reached to clutch a small cartouche pendant hanging from a leather thong around her neck.

"It is Ra, the Sun God."

"Very good! Very good. Yes, my friends, here we see Ra, God of the Sun. It is from him the feminine aspect of Hathor was born. As he is the God of Consciousness, she is the Goddess of Dreams."

As the guide rolled his r's with showmanship flair and gesticulated in a flurry of passionate storytelling, I wandered away from the group, growing impatient and wondering where Amun would meet me. Weaving about the columns, I heard my name whispered from above.

"Eleazar."

Spinning around to the left, I looked up to see one of the workers, descending a ladder quickly and quietly, his eyes fixed on me. He moved with unearthly grace considering his size. He had to be at least six and half feet tall. Upon reaching the ground, he smiled and beckoned with a jerk of his head for me to follow him. We moved out of the Hypostyle hall towards the Hall of Appearance, which then led to the Sanctuary. His speed quickened, and I almost had to jog to keep up. No one seemed to notice us, which, hopefully meant my powers to blend in were back online. I could hear Jaru continue on with his stories in the Hypostyle Hall, while the workers went about their careful cleaning.

When we reached the Sanctuary, a holy place where a golden effigy of The Source in the image of Hathor once stood, my large, mysterious guide turned to face me and held his arms out, palms facing upwards, and whispered, "For those who have eyes to see, Let them see."

A shimmering blue wave of magical energy surged from his palms and passed over the worker's face and clothing, morphing into the High Priest, Amun. He wore his trademark, white linen Armani suit, golden scarab cufflinks gleamed from the button holes. I was reduced to my knees by the force of the powerful kickback released when he removed his clever glamour. The jolt flashed for only a moment before it fizzling out to nothing but static. I desperately tried to gauge how much magic he could muster, but he was too quick to slide shields in place. He was beyond skilled to be able to keep me out. It was then I realized he released that slip to remind me why he was chosen by the Goddess to be second in the command. If the blowback literally _blows_ a man back, I decided on my knees was a good place to be to give respect where respect was due.

"My Lord Amun," I bowed my head in deference. "I have completed my mission and freed the Djinn from the clutches of The Forsaken."

"Please my Brother Eleazar, we have no time for formality. We are long past such archaic dogma. War is afoot and the first tastes of victory are ours!"

I looked up to see his dark eyes flash the iciest blue for a split second as he revelled in his proclamation. Offering me a hand up, he clasped mine firmly in the traditional grip of the OurosBouros. As I stood, he pulled me in for a firm, manly hug.

"I'm so sorry for your loss. Xandru was a devoted Brother and servant to The Source. Finding the Golden Eyed Queen and eliminating Sulpicia's army was a mission only you and he could have accomplished by sacrificing much together. You and your son's loyalty will not be forgotten. Whatever you need, whenever you need it Brother Eleazar, it is yours."

I tried very hard not to weep. The validation was a soothing balm over the burn of my loss. I reached into my jacket to hand Amun the accursed bottle.

"All I ask is that you relieve me of this my lord."

Pulling the bottle free from my inside breast pocket I could not resist voicing my concern, edged with the dangerous paranoia the Djinn fuelled, "Forgive me for asking Lord Amun, but is it safe to give this to you here?"

Amun's smile was slow and predatory, filled with the confidence of one who had the situation completely under control. He spread his hands wide to encompass the space and said something in an ancient language. My system iced over in the recognition of it, panic piercing my heart- _the language he spoke was the exact dialect Sulpicia used while doing her dark magics!_ In all of my travels during the millennia of my existence, I had never heard its like from another mouth until now.

Had I been fooled? Was this a trick orchestrated by The Forsaken? I buried the bottle again within the folds of my jacket. Dread rooted me to the spot, even with the reassurance of Amun's smile.

Amun pointed his index finger at the floor. I sucked in a breath of disbelief as I witnessed orange sparks shooting like a laser from his fingertips. Speaking in his strange tongue he carved a perfect red square onto the stone. It glowed in response to his voice before transforming into an opening with stone steps leading to a level _beneath_ the Sanctuary. The stairs descended in a dizzying curl to the dark bottom. The eerie similarity between these steps and the ones to Sulpicia's Oubliette- coupled with the language Amun had just used to invoke his magics, continued to paralyze me with doubt.

Turning his gaze on me, Amun creased his brow in confusion when he recognized the fear in my eyes. Somehow, I managed to answer his unspoken question.

"You spoke in the same language...as _Sulpicia_! Who are you _really_ and where are you taking me?"

His face softened and he looked weary for a moment.

"Stay your fear, Brother Eleazar. I speak the language common to The Source and her sister, The Forsaken. I can hardly guess at how difficult this journey has been, how much we have asked you to risk."

He approached me slowly, his hands raised in gesture of peace. "You have been marked and hunted by an ancient goddess of War, Disease and Pestilence. Though stripped of her godhead, her magic is as potent as mine...if not more. Hearing me speak and do magic similar to hers, it is understandable it would give you pause. But think upon this-being that I am the goddess's current protector, would it not seem appropriate for me to know her language and possess the knowledge of similar magics?"

His reasoning made sense, and yet, I sensed he was keeping something from me within that nugget of logical truth. His ability to block, and why he felt the need to do so, continued to play to my mistrust. _What was he hiding?_

"Please Eleazar, your suspicion is influenced by the bottle you carry..."

I sighed heavily. I _knew_ this to be true, however fear continued to beat furious wings in my throat as I looked down the spiralling stone steps into fathomless emptiness.

"What is down there?"

With his face the picture of serenity, Amun smiled, as if he was about to share a great secret with me.

"Answers Eleazar. Are you ready for them?"

_Was I_?

The roar of paranoia and fear rolling within my head was deafening, but if going down those stairs and trusting my High Priest was all I had to do to get rid of the Djinn, I was ready for anything.

"Yes."

He nodded in approval and grabbed a torch from the wall at the top of the staircase, lighting it without saying a word. Amun began to descend the stairs with me trailing along behind him. Along the wall were hieroglyphics, and from what I could tell from the sparse light bouncing off the walls, they were in pristine condition- as if they were just completed only days ago instead of eons. I could not help but trail my hand along their tempting texture; somehow the action calmed the rioting emotions inside of me. Amun looked over his shoulder at me with a conspiratorial grin.

"So much beauty. It's a shame to be secreted away down here, yes?"

"No, this is a place of protection. Someday I would love to know the stories on these walls."

He stopped mid-step and turned around to face me.

"Nothing would please me more than to tell them to you." Winking he added with an eerie whisper, "Perhaps that shall come sooner than you think. Come, we are almost to the bottom."

The staircase eventually ended in a small circular room with torches lit along the walls. Ahead, a large golden door bore the image of Hathor encrusted in precious and semi-precious stones that winked and sparkled in the ambient light of the antechamber. The detail of the mosaic of the Goddess was extremely intricate. I had never seen its like in any museum and I have been to hundreds of them over the course of my centuries. Realization dawned that beyond this door was The Source.

_She was here? In an underground crypt?_

Flashes of anger in regards to the security and defensibility of the compound surfaced and I wheeled on Amun.

"I thought you were bringing me to a safe magical space where you could check on the Djinn without something horrible happening. Or worse, have something horrible come _for us_! What guarantee do I have the Djinn's energy won't taint her sanctuary as it has my own mind?"

"So much fire and protection for the goddess! It is no wonder your devotion has enabled you to survive this long. Answers you shall have, my faithful friend."

With a satisfied nod, he spoke the strange language again. Blindingly bright light surrounded him and before my eyes, Amun morphed into the living, breathing embodiment of the hieroglyphics I'd admired not twenty minutes ago in the Hypostyle Hall.

Amun's nose lengthened, darkening to pitch black, before hardening and forming into a shiny beak. In a literal blink of his eyes, they mutated into the sharp, predatory stare of a falcon. His ornithological face complete, Amun opened his beak and let loose a sharp screech to the sky as his royal staff appeared in his left hand and a large golden ankh in his right. Feathers sprouted from his dark skin, covering head, neck and shoulders. His torso remained humanoid and his clothes dissipated, until all he was wearing was a white linen Egyptian-style apron with a gauzy silken robe in bright, jewel-toned turquoise. Around his upper arms, wrists and ankles, small cobra-like golden snakes reared their heads and swayed gently as if in thrall by some fakir's music in the distance. Before they settled, they gave an agitated hiss, found the end of their tails and locked their jaws around the tips, transforming into harmless gold adornments.

The final, glorious touch of his transfiguration was a golden ball of fire appearing over the top of his head, expanding until it burned bright enough to throw light all the way to the top of the stairwell. A large copper-coloured snake broke through the centre of the fiery orb, and wound his way to the top before finding rest upon the mystic swirling heat like it's earthbound progeny on a sun warmed rock. With a resounding crack that caused ripples of energy to roll out in waves, he slammed his staff forcibly onto the stone floor. Sparks flew, singeing my clothing, and for the second time today, I found myself on my knees before him.

Amun's falcon face morphed back to a version more similar to his human likeness. His blue eyes, so much like Sulpicia's, were lined heavily with kohl like the gods and pharaohs of old. When the blazing god before me spoke, his mighty voice was a telekinetic scream in my head,

"Eleazar Morales, you have the guarantee of the god who created that Djinn. They called me Atum when I remained motionless, containing the absolute information before the creation of this Universe. They called me Ptah when I set in motion the information that created the stars, the planets and the natural kingdoms upon them. And when I created the consciousness of man, they called me... _Amun-Ra."_

* * *

_Chapter 11 will be following within two weeks. Thanks so much for reading, it feels wonderful to be writing again!_


	11. Chapter 11

**_A/N _**_My thanks to Gasaway Alley and TwiliteAddict for validating. TwiliteAddict's Honeymoon Suite recently received a recommendation from LadyLawyer on The Fictionators! Make sure to check out this dearly loved Twilight honeymoon fic!_

_**From Chapter 10...**_

"_Eleazar Morales, you have the guarantee of the god who created that Djinn. They called me Atum when I remained motionless, containing the absolute information before the creation of this Universe. They called me Ptah when I set in motion the information that created the stars, the planets, and the natural kingdoms upon them. And when I created the consciousness of man, they called me...Amun-Ra."_

* * *

Amun, High Priest of the OurosBouros, was none other than Amun-Ra, god of the Sun, the Father of our goddess, Hathor, The Source. This was way beyond any question I was looking for the answer to.

The Sun-god pulsed with power above me, his divine light flooding my consciousness, bleaching away the stain left from the Djinn's greasy negativity. Freed from the disruption the Djinn caused to my powers, I flexed my ability to poke around in his power signature, surprised and dismayed by what I picked up.

Amun-Ra's power, though strong enough to bring me to my knees, did not hold the heat necessary to be foil to the harsh raping chill of his forsaken daughter's, Sulpicia. Depending on the severity of torture and blood magic she served you up with, her punishment would leave you with a void that could take weeks to recover from. I doubted he would have the ability to fill the hole Sulpicia left within the Djinn. Given Sulpicia was Hathor's twin, I imagined only The Source with her Creation magics had the means to replace what was taken away.

Not that there was any failing flaw evident in the god before me now, indeed his bright, blessed power eased my troubled conscience, bringing me peace. Chastising myself, I shoved my dubious concerns about Amun-Ra's abilities away and presented a humble apology for my disrespect.

"My Lord, please forgive me. I knew not... to whom I spoke, and yet despite my doubts, you've healed me."

"Rise, Eleazar, you were merely defending whom you serve, my beloved daughter. You have served her well."

I stood, handing the bottle over to Amun-Ra before bowing my head in respect.

"You are gracious and kind, my lord. I thank you for your infinite patience and forgiveness."

The Ankh and staff, which were in his hands only moments before, vanished, leaving them free to take the bottle. He handled it with such care—placing it on his palm before he ran his fingers along the black hieroglyphs carved into the blood red glass. The glyphs seemed to come alive for a moment, but Amun-Ra was unsuccessful at getting them to unlock their secrets, as it remained sealed. The bottle itself was shaped like the head of a lioness—the stopper fashioned like a moon with an asp curled around its southern axis. It was the symbol for Sekhmet—the Warrior Lioness, Sulpicia's forsaken godhead. A pained look tugged the god's mouth into a grim line. His long fingers worried the fragile glass as he spoke low and soft to it in the language he shared with his daughters.

"The despair of this Djinn is crushing. There is a madness present, trying to fill the void created when his love for Hathor was removed, but he keeps pushing it back...I have no idea where he is getting the strength to remain sane. I would never have believed it of him, knowing how much he loved her, but The Djinn remembers absolutely nothing about Hathor, nothing about the love they shared. Sulpicia knew she could never control him unless she wiped all traces of her from his mind." Amun-Ra closed his eyes, grief distorting his features. "The pain and loss emanating from this bottle is...beyond what I expected. Beyond my own powers to correct. Sulpicia didn't just alter his consciousness; she stole a piece of his very soul."

Amun-Ra's face was carved in resolve as he internally weighed options I could not dare guess at. _Was he going to take the Djinn to Hathor? Surely, the goddess could heal her lover..._

"You will leave the bottle with me, Eleazar, but I must ask you to continue on as bait. You could buy us time if Sulpicia believes you still have the bottle."

"Of course, my Lord; howsoever I can help..."

I expected fear to tighten its strangling hold at the thought of remaining Sulpicia's quarry. After the miracles I witnessed today, and the sweet relief of not having to carry the bottle any further, I felt renewed and ready for war.

"I accept the mission with gratitude, my Lord. I will lead Sulpicia far away from here. She shall never hear of the Djinn's whereabouts from these lips."

Amun-Ra flashed a satisfied smile and turned towards the large golden door leading to The Source's room.

"Come, Eleazar, before you start running again from one daughter, perhaps it's time you met the one you are running for. It is time you met Hathor."

Had I been human, my knees would have knocked with the anxious expectation of being in The Source's divine presence. If only Xandru were here to share this moment with me.

Amun-Ra turned and waved his hand over the gilded doors. Surprisingly, he spoke the incantation in English. Upon hearing it, I understood why,

_Ra exalts without ceasing_

_His heart rejoices when he joins his daughters,_

_He swims in his firmament, in peace_

_He turns and takes his course_

_Forsaking One to protect The Source_

The final two lines were the very creed of the Brotherhood, and at one time, used as our "secret password" when there were enough of us to share it. All this time, I thought the creed implied our fraternity's choice of fighting The Forsaken to protect The Source, but it turns out it was but a portion of something else entirely...it was the choice of a father between his daughters.

My heart felt heavy. I could not fathom the difficulty of having to choose sides between your children. I now understood why Amun-Ra had to keep his identity as Hathor's High Priest secret. The scales of justice were considered balanced when Sekhmet's godhead was taken from her and the Djinn was created to protect Hathor. However, when Ra decided to take a more active role in protecting The Source, The Forsaken lost not only her godhead, but the support of her father.

If Sulpicia found out her own father, who was not supposed to interfere, had hidden Hathor from her all of these years, I shuddered, thinking of the malevolence Sulpicia would send his way. Given Ra's magic did not seem to have the teeth his daughter's did, he was quite wise to keep his involvement with the OurosBouros under wraps for so long.

Before us, the doors popped open with a pressurized burst and hiss, fanning slowly inward. What I found beyond the threshold was certainly not the claustrophobic confines of a secret, underground room.

Instead, I discovered no walls in this space; stepping through the door was like entering a portal to a new land. The magical oasis was teeming with vegetation and fauna. Thick trees lined the entryway, spanning to the left and right of us, giving the illusion we were walking out of a forest into a verdant valley. Bees hummed lazily back and forth across wildflowers dotting the plush, carpet-like grass. A lake shimmered and sparkled in the distance, while deer danced over fields to the west towards an isolated grove of mighty oaks. Small rabbits hopped along, stopping here and there to chew at the sweet clover nestled amongst the blades of grass. My amazement piqued when I felt the cool fingertips of a breeze blowing over my skin. _Wind?_ We were deep underground not moments ago. _Where was all the natural light coming from? _I had to remember this was a sanctuary for a goddess. _A goddess of creation at that. She could mutate matter into any form she wished! Everything looked so real because it probably was! _

I could not contain the laugh bubbling forth from the joy and wonder I felt being in this magical space. _Her_ space. _Her_ world. It was the Christian equivalent as entering the Pearly Gates to be fully welcomed in the glory of heaven. As the sound of my happy outburst echoed through the small valley, birds startled and flew out of the brush dotted along our path. Amun-Ra indulged me with a smile, but there was no room left for it in his eyes, sadness crowding out any opportunity for joy. _How could he not feel joy in this place?_ He turned and led me towards the lake, his demeanor more solemn.

"My Lord, if you will permit me a question?"

"You have come for answers, Eleazar, yes? It is your prerogative to ask questions."

"You are sad coming into this place. Why?"

Looking at me sideways, his half-smile showed amusement but his tone brokered my respect.

"Nothing like cutting to the heart of the matter, Brother Eleazar?"

"My humble apologies if I've offended..." I stammered clumsily.

With a wave of his hand and a shrug of his shoulders, he put his arms behind his back and focused straight ahead as he seemed to mull over how to respond. We maintained our slow, steady pace towards the lake.

"With only Hathor and I here, I get quite lonely for company, so I shall tell you a story. The whole story. A story of your origins, Eleazar."

"My origins? What would that have to do with your unhappiness in this place?"

"Quite a bit, actually. Oh, don't get me wrong, your race is one of the most amazing and misunderstood creations since the Nephilim, but they are another story entirely. Your story, Eleazar, the story of the Vampire and how they came to be, is one intricately tied with mine. With Hathor's. With...Sulpicia's."

"Well yes, my lord, our kind has served the goddess for years in protecting her from Sulpicia."

"Ahh, yes, your kind has served us well. But it goes back farther than you think, dear Brother. Perhaps I should start at the beginning...with my daughters."

Amun Ra's voice took on a beguiling tone, filled with the charm long used by the infamous bards through the hallows of time, when stories were told by mouth rather than written word.

"As you know, the goddesses, Hathor and Sekhmet, are twins, each a mirror reflection of each other's powers. Sekhmet was the fire that consumed, burning away old growth to make way for new. Hathor was fertility, planting and nurturing new life out of the coals from her sister's razing. When they combined as one, the terrible Eye of Ra, their powers were amplified, but Sekhmet, being a warrior goddess, was hungrier, more dominant in the role as Destructor...Hathor became trapped in the whirlwind of her sister's fury, but _not powerless_."

From above us, a falcon screeched and Amun Ra paused in his narrative. Suddenly, the bird of prey swooped down into the field ahead of us, a bullet fury of wings and talons, plucking a rabbit out of the clover. The rabbit squealed and struggled, forcing the falcon to land, but the bird was much larger and dominated the bleating animal easily before he ripped off pieces of flesh to gulp them down.

Amun-Ra halted our advance so as not to spook the falcon enjoying his kill, then whispered, "Nature seems so cruel, but the wise man knows out of death comes life."

Eying us, the falcon screeched again, hunching over its prey protectively. With a flap of its wings once, then twice, the bird took off with its broken and bloodied kill between its talons. We watched the bird fly off, probably to feed young. The peaceful picture of the valley resumed, but I noticed the rabbits were no longer in sight. Amun-Ra continued on with his story, leading us towards the lake, as I marveled again at the complexity of this sanctuary.

"Gods are not impervious to the whims of Nature, Eleazar. It is within my nature to be proud. When I exercised prideful cruelty and released The Eye of Ra to hunt down the humans who defied me as a god, thousands died. But what is not known, is the new form of life that came from those deaths. In my shame and guilt of the lives lost, and the irreparable damage it did to my daughters...I removed from the consciousness and records of man a crucial portion of the Eye of Ra legend."

"Why not the entire legend, my Lord? Why not wipe it all away?"

"Oh, it was tempting, Eleazar, but pride was my lesson, and judgment demanded my humility. After all, is not man supposed to learn from the foolish whims of the gods?" He snorted derisively. "You ask me why I am sad, Eleazar. I am sad because a long time ago, I asked of my daughters a terrible thing, and when they combined their powers of Chaos and Creation, Ma'at, the goddess of Judgment taught me a lesson about pride. I was a fool to forget about the demands of Ma'at regarding the necessity of balance." He kicked the dirt like a child caught in a spot of trouble. Quickly he turned on me, desperate to make me understand. "Out of death comes life, Eleazar. It is the unbroken circle. The OurosBouros."

He pointed to the clouds in the vista ahead of us; they began to darken into a steel grey, rolling into a boil, forming the shape of a snake devouring its tail, the symbol of our order. The image hung in perfect detail for a few seconds before pulling apart, lightening in color, returning to the cottony strands of cumulus once more.

"What is _not_ told about the thousands that died from the Eye of Ra's bloody rampage is _they rose again_. Within the Eye of Ra, Sekhmet's destructive nature reveled in the gutting, bleeding, and feeding from the Eye's victims. Yet, gentle Hathor, remained true to her own nature and found a way to replace death with life! The corpses began to heal from the inside out, changing into something stronger, more beautiful, and more savage than any human or immortal ever to walk the earth. Even more amazing was the fact this new immortal species were able to procreate, through the same manner in which their species found its genesis. _Blood-drinking."_

"My god, they were the first vampires!"

"I think the correct plea would be, "my goddess," since it is _she _who is your Creator. Now you see why Hathor is called, _The Source, _Eleazar. Hathor is the true mother of your race."

I was stunned. So much so, I could not speak. My head could not get above the quicksand of Amun-Ra's shocking revelations.

The vampire race rose from the ashes of destruction caused by the Eye of Ra. We were made from an act of compassion and healing by the Goddess of Creation herself! _We were actually created, not cursed—not possessed by demon spirits._ _We had a benevolent genesis!_

Every race along the timeline of history has a story of their beginnings, how they came to be and the gods who made them. Monotheism, Polytheism, the root is the same; legend and myths would say it was so, and their culture evolved in the strengthening and perpetuation of those beliefs through the ages. The vampire race was a melting pot of theosophical beliefs. In crossing over, we desperately clung to our human culture, beliefs, and biases—it was difficult enough to survive the change and the hunger without losing our mind. Losing faith could make or break a vampire. For many of us, our spirituality grounded us, kept us whole in times of soul-stealing depravity.

I thought of my friend, Carlisle; how rare it was for a vampire to reach his level of abstinence and control around human blood. How he struggled, wrestling with his "demonic" hunger, mourning the abandonment of a Christian God, yet consistently applying the morals of a faith he felt annexed from. I felt anger for his suffering. But then I realized, knowing Carlisle as I do, it was the suffering that shaped him, made him _stronger._ It could have changed the very heart of him if the truth was offered—maybe for the better, maybe for the worse. I'm not sure it is a decision I could make for him. For anyone really.

Despite the comfort I drew from my own convictions, I had to ask Amun-Ra _why?_ I owed it to my race. I owed it to all of the lost souls that suffered with their damnation, especially those that gave in to the darkness without a fight. Though I should have felt anger by the betrayal in robbing us of our evolutionary history, I knew as an OurosBouros Brother, I was devout in the belief The Source was our Mother in the figurative sense, as she was a goddess of Creation. To know it was a literal truth shifted my paradigms, but only slightly.

"How could you leave us without...without our history? Our origins? When I think of the millions born into cavernous depths of despair, feeling shunned from their faith...alone...most believed themselves to be godless abominations. Hathor was the only goddess to come forth and accept us, treat us as beings with a higher purpose. She agreed with your decision to wipe our history from our consciousness?"

"No. In fact, it was a sore point between us. But she did not have time to press the issue, as Hathor was not the only goddess that came forth to claim you."

"Sulpicia?"

"Yes, Eleazar. Sulpicia desired subjugation from your entire race. Had she the power of her godhead as Sekhmet, she would have easily accomplished enslavement of your kind. Hathor realized immediately, the only way she could keep the vampire race from slavery was to keep them from her sister. Hathor and her Djinn lover, Benji, spent a millennium, working covertly to protect your kind from Sulpicia's grip. When Sulpicia joined forces with the Volturi brothers, their Machiavellian manipulations were the beginning of the end for Hathor and Benji's cause to protect your race.

"Soon enough, it was all they could do to save themselves! From the desert temples in Egypt, to the windswept shores of Ireland, after centuries of cat and mouse, Sulpicia finally caught up to her sister on the edges of the Black Sea. Benji sacrificed himself so Hathor could escape. She made her way to me, and has been here in my care ever since."

Amun-Ra was vibrating with emotion, and Benji's bottle began to pulse and stir in response. Remembering himself, he again spoke softly to the spirit within, calming the Djinn. He sighed heavily; defeat and depression danced along the edge of his storytelling, and my heart broke for him. Regret had carved such deep trenches into his soul.

"Don't you understand, Eleazar? At the time, I felt your race was better off with no god to worship and follow into folly. I can never know for sure if it was the right decision, but I could not risk giving Sulpicia the chance to exploit her role in your creation and set herself up as your goddess! I had already risked and lost so much. I had lost the respect of my people. I lost the respect of my pantheon, giving rise to the reign of Isis and Osiris. My foolish, prideful choices resulted in murder of innocents, and placed a wedge between my twin daughters. One is lost to the darkness of black magic while the other is...the other is..."

Amun-Ra was so entrenched in his grief he could not bring himself to finish. Fear gripped my heart. _What had happened to Hathor?_

A lone tear tracked down his cheek, and so caught up was I with the dramatic diatribe and display of the god's deepest family secrets, I had not noticed we'd come to the banks of the lake.

"The other is...unreachable."

His eyes looked towards the middle of the small lake. There was an island with a modest stone temple hidden amongst the trees. Confused, I pressed the god further. "What do you mean...unreachable?" _Was the goddess trapped on the island somehow? Was she cursed as well?_

Amun-Ra took a deep and measured breath before he answered.

"When Hathor came to me after Benji's capture, she was so heartbroken; I doubted she would be able to hold on to the material plane. She was withering in her devastation. This temple was the only place I could bring her as it still held enough power to sustain her."

"But the temple wasn't active at the time you would have brought her here..."

"It was not active in the traditional ways with all of its ceremony, but despite being housed by beggars and thieves, most countrymen still believed in the old ways. It was their belief that maintained the power. You heard Jaru during his tour; these temples were astrologically chosen to become amplifiers for the spiritual energy flowing from and to the goddess. In its prime, the temple above us was teeming with energy. People came from long distances to pray in my daughter's temple, to be bathed in the sacred pools, and to receive the medicine and the care they needed, so it's no surprise some residual healing energy remained.

"At first, when Hathor and I came here to seek refuge, she languished in her convalescence for many centuries, cocooned in a deep depression, creating nothing. Sometimes she would play her beloved lyre, songs of such longing and loss, it was all I could do to not rip the instrument from her hands and scream at her to stop. But things did seem so hopeless for us then. Our Priests and Brothers had been slaughtered. Our allies in the Striga and Pricolici scattered to the winds. The situation of the Brotherhood was so dire,we needed a miracle.

"And again, that miracle came to us through the curiosity and adulation of Man, saving us once again from our apathy. Therein was my lesson. We gods need the people more than they need us. General Napoleon Bonaparte rescued our temple from being swallowed by the desert sands, and people came again, not to be healed, but to relearn the language, decipher and cherish the stories written on the walls so many years ago. Imagine the power when the written and spoken words of our people were joined once more! Like a siren song, the translation of the hieroglyphs beckoned the people to come again from long distances. From all the corners of the world they came to walk through her temple and speak of Hathor's legends and her people. This renewed interest in the past brought on a resurgence of energy within the Temple. The people took pictures, touched, retold, and resurrected the stories with their careful rediscovering of our past. They revived the energy that is stored here beneath the ground and healed Hathor enough that she began building this world you see before you. I felt such immeasurable hope for her recovery. But it was short-lived."

"What happened? Was it Sulpicia?"

Amun shook his head, but his face became haunted with grief and regret. He bent down and dipped his cupped hands into the water, and the emotion on his face darkened as he brought the handful of water over to me. I could see images drifting on top of the bare skim of liquid, coalescing into a scene some time ago in this very spot. I saw a woman with raven-black hair kneeling by the lake's edge. Her petite body seemed so laden with sadness, she was literally bowed beneath the weight of it as she cried heavy tears into the water. Amun-Ra appeared and knelt down beside her, wrapping his arm around her slim shoulders.

"_My darling Hathor, why do you cry? You have created such a beautiful lake, and have almost finished your haven...Is this cause for tears?"_

The goddess was beyond breathtaking, but my heart shattered with the haunted look in her eyes. Her warm amber skin glinted like delicate gold leaf in the sun, sparkling much like the diamond skin our race had inherited. Hathor's rich, violet eyes were streaked with a raging grey storm of loss. Beyond dignity in her pain, the goddess gripped Amun-Ra's robe in a fevered attempt to make him understand her desolation.

"_It's becoming impossible to hold it all in. The love, the loss - I can't carry this much pain any longer, Father. I have cried endless tears and this lake now holds all of that pain for me. It holds all of my memories of Benji."_

Amun-Ra, clearly horrified, snatched his robe from her desperate grip, stood and backed away from his daughter. Scolding her in frustration, he cut her to the core, "How can you remove memories of Benji after he sacrificed his own to save you?"

Hathor cried harder, the storm in her eyes bled into the lake and whitecaps began whipping across the surface in a frenzied roll and wave. Very much the broken father, the god rushed back to her and dropped to his knees, begging her to stop crying. As he held her, crooning his apologies and empathies, the heartbreak and guilt flashed in his eyes. They told me the inevitable - he would let her go. He could deny her nothing, even if that meant allowing her to empty herself.

The scene broke apart into tiny droplets, seeping through Amun-Ra's fingers and hitting the ground. He wiped the wetness from his hands vigorously on his robes as if they were scalding him.

Imploringly the god whispered, "How could I argue with her? Especially since I was the one who had asked of her to become the Eye, whetting Sekhmet's appetite for power, pitting her beloved twin against her! So I let her go. She waded into the water and swam towards the island.

"After some time passed - I do not know how long, as time moves differently here -I tried to swim to the island, but the water was impossible to traverse. Her memories soaked into my skin, and I felt her love, pain and loss so strongly that I feared I would lose my very sense of self…and I am the god of consciousness!"

I could not believe the azure blue lake before me could cause a god such as Ra so much challenge and pain. The sun glinted like winking fairy lights across its surface, making the body of water appear idyllic. I peered into the water edging the bank. There were no plants or fish swimming beneath the surface, but there were swirling, ghost-like wisps of movement that caught and confounded my eyes. _Could these be her memories? _

Amun Ra continued, "I went to my brother, Thoth, again for council. He shifted into a falcon and flew to the island to observe Hathor. He said she slumbers but her body fades from the material plane, eroding into a bare mist of physical resemblance."

"Dear Goddess! What is happening to her?"

"Thoth's theory is that she has exiled herself to the Land of Dreams, but she has submerged herself so deeply within that plane, she fades from this one. Soon, she could be lost forever. Isabella is the only one who can reach her now. We waited so long for her, I feared the arrival of The Golden-Eyed Queen would come too late. I must tell you, I made sure for myself she was the one. She is incredibly powerful and pure of heart."

"My Lord? You have met Isabella Swan?"

"Yes. Her and her lover Edward were awaiting Isabella's transformation in the In Between. As you know, Edward's sister is a Seer. His sister saw Edward's death and Isabella demanded answers. She was shaking the very heavens for it. Anyone could have heard her, and perhaps refrained from answering her to perhaps see who _would._ Should Sulpicia have heard her, and found out...Well, I risked much to give Isabella what I could in the time we had. I think she caught the gist of my vagueness, and I made sure that she saw the name of my boat. If she goggled Mandjet, my name is sure to come up."

"'Goggle' my Lord?"

"Yes, on that technical cyber plane the humans created – the interweb."

"Oh, yes, the internet. I believe the word is _Google_, my Lord." Amun-Ra rolled his eyes. "You are sure Isabella has enough power to heal the Djinn _and_ reach The Source?"

"Absolutely positive. Isabella is the result of breeding generations of powerful Striga witches. Therefore, she has a natural mastery of all the elements – Fire, Water, Earth and Air. This is Creation magic, but it is also Chaotic magic. She can create _as well_ as destroy. The Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End. Besides Sulpicia, only Isabella has power to temper the Djinn, and perhaps fill in the void Sulpicia left. Isabella can also Dreamwalk like her grandmother, Marie..."

"Therefore giving her the ability to reach Hathor in the dream realm. Brilliant plan, my Lord, but what about Sulpicia? Does Isabella have enough power to...defend herself? Destroy if she has to?"

Amun-Ra considered his answer carefully. Looking out across the water at the island for a moment, he sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"She had no problem destroying the Volturi Army – prior to transformation, no less. Yet, Isabella is at a disadvantage because she has so little information to go on. That is not meant to be an accusation in any form against Xandru or yourself for not preparing her, Eleazar. I hold my part in that error of judgment as well."

I believed him; however, I still could not help feeling the guilt for advising Xandru to not overwhelm the poor woman with the full breadth of her destiny. Inadvertently, I made Isabella's task more difficult.

"Yes, but my Lord, you truly had no choice. Risking our exposure to Sulpicia too soon has been a delicate dance we all have been performing since she eradicated our Brotherhood."

Coldness settled over Amun-Ra at the mention of his daughter's genocide of our Priests and Brotherhood, but I knew seeded deep amongst his resolve for war was the hope for victory.

"Now that we have the Djinn safely in our possession, I can contact Isabella within the privacy of a setting I can better control. I can give her the Djinn to heal, along with all the information she needs to finish her quest."

It seemed like a sound plan, but before I could ask any more questions, a large black snake with a golden head slithered out of the brush to the left of us, heading straight for Amun-Ra's feet. There was something familiar about the large cobra.

Amun-Ra looked surprised and squatted down until he was eye level with the snake as it rose up and swayed as if ready to strike. My instincts screamed to act, but I dared not move should this animal be a friend to the god. They seemed to hold a silent conversation in which Amun-Ra paled while the snake bared its fangs and hissed aggressively. The god looked to the temple across the lake for a moment, then to the bottle in his hands. Tightening his grip, he spoke to the snake out loud.

"Do what you can to keep her at bay. Eleazar and I will resurface as soon as we seal off the entrance."

The snake seemed to nod in agreement, curl up in a ball, and then it was gone.

Alarmed by the change in the god's face, I hurried to question, "What, or who was that? Is something going on above us in the temple?"

"That was Jaru..."

"_The tour guide, Jaru?_"

Amun-Ra smiled, but instead of sadness crowding the eyes, it was pride. "Jaru, is _my_ faithful and loyal Djinn. I created him over five thousand years ago."

I realized why the snake looked so familiar – it was exactly like the one on Jaru's beautiful staff. Realization hit as to who could shake the god's confidence and my mind spun in the consuming quickening of fear, burning through my insides like acid.

"Goddess and Consort._ Sulpicia!_ She is here."

Amun-Ra nodded his head, his hands flexing into fists. His anger rolled off of him in waves.

"Yes."

"My Lord, I am yours to command. What do we do?"

Handing me the bottle that Sulpicia would murder for, I knew there could be no "we". It was time for me to run and for Amun-Ra to _stop_ running from his wretched daughter.

_This was going to be one hell of a family reunion._

* * *

**End notes**

On the propylons of the Temple of Hathor on the island of Philae is this inscription:

"_Ra exalts without ceasing_

_His heart rejoices when he joins his daughter,_

_He swims in his firmament, in peace_

_He turns and takes his course"_

I used it in this story to suit my needs and ever lasting love for research. But I must give credit where credit is due. I didn't write it!

If anyone has any questions at all, please feel free to PM me or send them in a review.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: ** _We are back and I have some excellent news! From the Ashes was nominated as BEST DRAMA in the Twilight Fanfiction Eclipse Awards! Voting starts May 5 twilighteclipsewardsblogspot DOT ca. Go check it out to vote for your favourites! My sincere love and gratitude to Dolores for the gentle nudge to finish this chapter, and my undying love and gratitude to TwiliteAddict and Gasaway Alley for their beta blessings._

* * *

**McKinley Village, Nenana River Valley, Alaska**

The old Bella probably would have felt a tad ashamed that she had shacked up for twelve hours straight taking full advantage of her newly-made-immortal-moment with Edward in the Eagle's Nest.

The current new and improved version of myself? Well, after a night of the most sensual, intimate, and

erotic night of loving with my mate, my cares about what others thought were non-existent. So what if I couldn't keep the smug, _"I just had lots and lots of mind blowing sex"_ smile from hijacking my face.

Any concern I had, however, ceased to matter as the family seemed quite distracted with their own little party. I can't say I was surprised at the revelry. The past week had been the most harrowing of our very existence, so to see the Cullens healthy, happy, and in a well-deserved celebratory mood was a blessed thing.

Gathered around the central hearth in the Great Room, they were listening to the most beautiful folk music. It sounded like the Celtic pieces Renee used to play when she was going through one of her many spiritual incarnations and uprisings. Jasper was standing by the fireplace playing a twelve string guitar. The sunlight glinted off the polished wood and strings, dancing and gliding like magical, glimmering sprites. Alice was performing a little step dance, her frighteningly fast kick-ball-change footwork barely touched the floor. Her eyes were bright with amusement and she floated over to plant a gentle kiss on my forehead, and then danced away like a wee fae spirit. Jasper brought the tune to a close and we all applauded our appreciation, whistles and cat calls also echoed through the room.

"That was delightful, Jazz. What was the tune?" I inquired.

"Balarney Pilgrim," he answered while casually plucking another reel from his strings.

Edward gave my hand a reassuring squeeze before announcing to his family, "We've worked up an appetite... anyone up for a hunt?"

Seated with Rose on the loveseat, Em snorted loudly, no doubt gearing up for a snappy, suggestive comeback. No comments were forthcoming, however, as Rose gave him an arched eyebrow with arms crossed over her chest—which I assume was code for: _Shut it. Yesterday._

I was quite impressed that's all it took to silence the king of wit.

Clearing his throat, Em put on his best serious face, which quite honestly, just looked earnest and adorable.

"I'd really like to go, Bells, if that's okay? Maybe you could use me in case you er...ummmm, get out of control or something..."

Tension rose as the heavy memory of that dramatic moment when I attacked Edward surfaced like a dead body. Jasper broke the spell by barking out a laugh. "Brother, you must think an awful lot of yourself if you think you can control an entity like Bella. She just iced the Volturi, man!"

"Technically, she torched them," Em sniffed. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Besides, _we all agreed."_ Jasper intimated.

"_Agreed on what?_" Edward and I voiced _en force._

Esme was the one to answer, causingEdward and I to relax instantly. "I just know that this first hunt is going to be a... strange, yet important milestone for you. We trust you and Edward to take care of each other. We all think you should go by yourselves."

They trusted us_. _Though humbled by our family's unconditional love and support, the truth of Esme's words rang true - the one proven certainty in my existence was no matter what transpired, Edward and I would _always_ took care of one another. I had to remember to repeat that like a mantra in my head if doubt superseded my heart again.

I turned towards Edward and he tipped my chin. "She's right."

"I know," I whispered. "So what do you say we get this over with?" I smiled at him.

"Let's."

)()(

The beauty of Alaska cannot be defined in images or words. It needs to be experienced with all of one's senses. The mountain range rose like a large, rambling beast of rock reaching jagged fingertips to blue edges of the sky. The sharp bite of pine wrapped in a layer of chimney smoke and dirt was the most prevalent scent, while the intensity of sound had to be compartmentalized or I would've been lost in the cacophony of confusion arising from Mother Nature's symphony.

I wondered if maybe I just wasn't focused enough on hunting to try and separate the bird calls from the bear growls. The thought of taking blood from an animal still made me uncomfortable, but I was excited to watch Edward hunt.

"What types of animals do you hunt out here?" I lifted my nose to sniff what the winds carried along, delighting in the wild tang the outdoors now held for me.

"Well, out here for large, more challenging game we have bear – black or brown. Em and Rose used to enjoy hunting the gray wolves until they became threatened by human impact."

I admired how the Cullens and Denalis refrained from hunting animals on the Endangered Species List. I grimly considered the environmental changes of late, and wondered just how big that list would become as years progressed.

"Bison, moose, and caribou are quite large, but not much sport." Edward shrugged. I remembered him

telling me how much he enjoyed hunting mountain lion, and decided to ask him about his preferences in the hopes I could find my own.

"Why do you enjoy the mountain lion so much?"

Tension rippled across his body and settled like a constrictive net around his shoulders. His hunger was becoming harder to rein in and the mere suggestion of food had the effect of a Pavlovian bell ringing in the air, deafening us both. I immediately regretted asking him, but he shook it loose and his voice became controlled and quiet.

"They are so agile and powerful; fast, too, on pretty much any terrain. I appreciate a beast I can chase a bit."

A shiver coursed down my spine, but it was not from fear. It was desire. More than anything, I wanted - no, _needed-_ to watch him chase an animal that was worthy of his pursuit. Observing me for a measured moment, Edward muttered a low oath under his breath. I quite enjoyed his squirmy reaction to my obvious arousal, yet I knew him well enough not to tease him about it. In fact, I finally understood why he was so adamant about me not watching him hunt. Em's wisecracks and love for innuendo all but confirmed the sexual energy hunting creates for their species. I can only imagine how difficult it was for Edward being the only single member of the coven, his ability to read minds a crucible forcing him to hunt alone. Had I been made to understand this dichotomy of sex and death for their species, I never would have pushed Edward all those years ago to let me watch him hunt. The issue wasn't so much he didn't want me to see him as a killer, it was because he was unsure of how to handle the strong, sexual overtones that surrounded the act of hunting for his kind. Given Edward's gentlemanly turn of the century upbringing, I'm sure being confronted with the unabashed curiosity of his seventeen year old, seemingly naive human crush gave him much pause.

I would have to work hard at easing his doubts on my comfort level with the alchemical melding of death and sex. With Edward, I've found more often than not, the only way to convince was action. Given the sexual tension vibrating between us during this excursion, that should be soon, but common sense told me to wait until he made a kill.

Edward pointed towards Mount McKinley in an awkward effort to change the subject hanging heavy between us.

"She wasn't always called Mount McKinley – the locals still refer to her as Mount Denali."

"Was this area named after the Denali coven?"

"Officially, no. Unofficially, however, the coven is this area's most respected and oldest secret. You see the coven came here during the Russian occupation and were highly revered, even worshiped as protectors, by the Koyukon Athabaskan people after the Denali sisters made a pact with them."

"A pact? Kind of like what the Cullens and the Quileute used to have?"

"Well, yes, I guess so, but for different reasons. The Denalis' feared exposure for what they were after coming to Alaska in exile from Russia. Tanya made an offer the Koyukon couldn't refuse – to never harm the human population _and_ serve as their immortal protectors, which is why the area and mountain were named after sisters. The Koyukon people in turn left the Coven to live in peace, undisturbed. I've sometimes wondered if some of that local worship still exists today as there was quite a push by the indigenous people to have McKinley changed back to Denali. It was turned down at the Federal level, but remains recognized by the state of Alaska as Denali. I guess the Federal government doesn't like it when you name a mountain after a US President and then request to take it back."

By early October, Mount McKinley was blanketed in snow, but Edward informed me September had been unseasonably warm which allowed the tundra at her feet to hold her autumnal display of color. I was so thankful for it. Evergreen and white spruce rose like dark green obelisks across the land, lending lovely contrast to the sunshine yellow of the poplar, willow, and quaking aspens. Dwarf birch scrubbed the land with its stout brushes of red ochre. Seeing it all beneath the baby blue sky made me wish I could fly and see it all again from above.

_Fly? Check that. No way. No time soon, I hope, anyway._

Remembering turning into the Phoenix and plummeting towards the earth, I made the quick decision to entertain thoughts of flight another day. When your first flight ends in a fiery crash, you tend to want to forget that. I refocused on Edward and gave him a teasing shove.

"Race you to her base?"

"With rhyming like that, how can I refuse?" With a light tug of my hand, we were off running side by side, fleet as the wind itself. Tearing across the tundra, my peripheral vision was not a blurred streak like I would expect, but a continual flash of images in a perfect millisecond of time, framed like a snapshot as we passed by. Impossibly, I was able to take note of every detail in each flash, and process with base instinct as either threat or no threat. Now I knew how Edward was able to move so fast, yet not bump into anything, trip or take a wrong turn. Information was fed with perfect clarity to the brain, and the speed in which it is processed had no limits.

_No limits! Now, this is going to be fun._

With a push of effort, I pulled ahead of Edward and ran as fast as I dared for the base of the mountain. A small lake flashed up ahead and I calculated my speed and its width before deciding to try something different.

Why jump when you can just keep running?

Like the lightest skipping stones, my feet skimmed across the surface of the water. My laugh echoed throughout the valley as Edward's soft, confounded cursing trailed in answer to my trick.

When he caught up with me, he folded me into a tight squeeze; his laugh low and rumbly, vibrating against me. I couldn't help but smile into his sweater before looking up at him, beaming like an absolute idiot.

"Isabella Marie Swan, _walking on water_?"

"I'm pretty sure I was running."

With a tendency for overkill in an innocent batting of the lashes, Edward smirked and gave me a light tap on the tush. I was startled and aroused simultaneously. I would have blushed if I could, and Edward knew it.

"Come on, I think I know where I can find a large caribou. Keeping up with you has made me very hungry."

A low growl sounded in my throat, and I burrowed my nose into Edward's neck, licking a length of his skin.

"Mmmm. Me, too."

"Bella," he croaked. "Please."

I stepped back. He needed to feed and I needed to back off and let him.

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize, it's just – I'm at loss. It doesn't seem you need blood to sustain yourself like a 'regular' vampire does, so I don't know how to... take care of you. "

"Why do you think it is that I don't need blood? I was made into this form by your venom which completely changed my physiology, so it stands to reason I would need to eat the same things you do."

"Bella, love, you have to stop worrying about it. Just go with what your needs are -_no matter what they are._ I think you've always been something other than human... you have very strong witch _and_ shifter DNA. More so than Alex or Jane, who didn't have the added Quileute breeding you did, and they were two of the strongest vampires of our race. You were already something else before I threw my genes into the paranormal pool. You are entirely _unique_."

"I guess the upside is I have no expectations to live up to." I snorted derisively.

Edward tactfully agreed, "There is that. It still doesn't answer how I should take care of you."

"How about you show me how you take care of yourself first?"

Straightening, he nodded and placed his body into the wind to sift through her offerings. His hunger struck like an angry viper, his whole body turning rigid and ready, leaning east. I searched the horizon to see if I could spot his quarry, but found nothing. He could sense my struggle; he was incredibly hyper-aware, especially of me. I would imagine this was a natural state for him to be in when looking for prey.

_Let's face it. He wasn't the only predator on this plain. _Problem is, I only had eyes for him.

"You will get used to the musk signatures of various animals. Soon enough, you will be able to scent them from many miles away," he spoke urgently, as if holding a conversation took all of his concentration.

The rest of our communication was done silently with me following him a few paces behind. He flanked the origin of the scent, careful to remain downwind. Speed was not the primary function for stalking this type of prey. This take down was all about positioning. Once cornered, Edward would exert little effort to outrun and overtake the large animal, so the thrill for Edward was in the stalking. Watching him creep like a phantasm made solid through the underbrush stirred something very primal within me. I could not take my eyes from him and was, in effect, hunting the hunter.

Edward moved with deadly focus, carefully making his way towards the lake where the caribou was taking a drink. Like a switch went off, his humanity was shed from him, yet he was all the more sublime for his true form. I was not afraid. I was _fascinated_. Besides, how could I fear him? I was no less scary a monster myself! I reveled in the observation of him in his most natural state which went beyond what I glimpsed when he let go during our most passionate lovemaking, and well beyond anything I had ever witnessed or experienced. The exhilaration of the hunt coursing through my veins did little to dampen the low, luxurious heat building within me as I witnessed my lover's ultimate submission to his nature.

_Could I submit to my own?_

I knew even before we started this hunt I would have no interest in the spoils. Not blood spoils anyway. I trembled with the thought his strong neck yielding to my teeth, the taste of his venom on my lips like spun sugar...

I wanted him, but I knew the pounding, terrible importance of waiting until he finished this kill. Not simply for the reason of sating his terrible hunger, but for his base masculine need to show me his prowess. He liked me watching him, and was not planning to disappoint.

Once the caribou realized Edward was not a lost human wilderness explorer appearing from nowhere out of the brush behind him, he turned from the shoreline to bolt. Edward did not allow the beast a long, frightened chase. Immediately grabbing his large antlers, he forced the animal to the ground and onto its back with a violent hard twist of precisely calculated force as not to snap its neck. The caribou's eyes wheeled in his head, legs flailed in the air, trying to upright himself with every awkward effort the large beast could manage, but it was too late. Edward locked his jaws around the caribou's carotid and drank in great pulls. The frantic motion ceased and the animal went limp with death in my lover's fatal embrace. Eventually Edward's eyes fluttered close in the absolution of his necessary communion.

I felt the need for a prayer for the animal, and perhaps, for Edward, too, and I immediately thought of one that could be appropriate. Fishing wasn't the only torture Charlie and Billy put Jacob and me through. As children, Billy had taught us _The Hunter's Prayer_. I couldn't help but be thankful I could recall a few words of the poem to suit my purpose.

_There were but two beneath the sky,_

_the thing I came to kill, and I_

_I, under covert, quietly,_

_Watched him sense eternity._

Edward pulled back from his prey and stood facing me, but I couldn't read the expression on his face. To my amazement he repeated phrases of the same poem back to me.

_And then I felt, I could not see,_

_Far off a hunter watching me..._

Edward was acknowledging my stalking of him. The building burn I had for him caught aflame from the dried out tinder of my self control. He closed in. Fast. Leaning in, lips brushing my ear, he whispered the final lines -

_For there were two who had to die,_

_The thing I wished to kill and I..._

His hands ran up my back, and lips tasting of pennies pressed light kisses on my jaw, lips, and eyes, while fingers running through my hair tugged with desperate need to bring me closer. Closer. My desire scorched me black with an intense greed for him. All of him. His body tensed slightly with the recognition of it, then yielded with pliant submission.

I froze with the fear of not knowing what was at the bottom of this precipice we stood upon, shaking, quaking with the need to push off the edge and mine the depths.

"Edward..."

"It's okay, Bella. We both know blood is not what you need. Let's drop the ruse. You need...this."

A sob escaped my throat as he bent his neck in offering to me, and I simply let go, latching razor sharp teeth to his newly healed flesh. Edward's grip tightened, drawing me closer until our bodies were flush, grounding each other. The contact kept me from drifting into the oblivion of a riotous riptide of need just beyond the edges of my hunger for him. I began to realize my hunger was split between the hunger of the body and that of the libido. Focusing on the latter may help pull me back from draining him dry.

Strengthened by this new found perspective, I pulled away from Edward. His eyes were closed, opening with a start when he realized I had stopped. Knitting his brows he began to ask if I was okay before I could silence him with a kiss that left us both teetering against Newton's law in its wake.

"Edward I need..."

"Whatever you need, take it. Take everything."

My right hand trailed around to his front, reaching desperately for him and finding him painfully hard for my touch. My entire body responded with heat to the feel of his strong, eager cock flexing in my hand. Our surroundings darkened, and with the retreating light, the absence of white space coloured the air with magic. A hush fell over everything like a blanket as our clothes found their way to the ground and our bodies found their way to each other. We were the only movement and only sound while the world held its breath in expectation.

Edward positioned himself beneath me, his eyes devouring my body as I took pleasure in the snug feel of him buried within me. Rolling my hips back and forth, his hands rested on them lightly and then began a roaming sensuous, rhythm in time with our deep grinding. We were obliterated with the driving, pounding urge to tease, please, and push each other to cosmic completion. Stars burst behind my eyes as we screamed each other's names in release. When I opened them, I noticed Edward peering beyond me to the darkened sky above. Puzzled, I settled into the crook of his arm to look up with him, shocked by the sight greeting me.

"Is that..._normal_?" I asked in the hopes of "yes", but knowing...

"No."

Silence did not hang heavy and awkward, which is something considering we were both naked and lying on the ground, staring up into a full solar eclipse.

* * *

**End Notes**

I use pieces of the poem below. I only found one reference to an author of this Native American deer hunting prayer, otherwise it is credited as Author Unknown. According to William Gibson, author of _A View of the Mountains_, he credits a Florence Freedman for writing this prayer.

**The Hunters**

There were but two beneath the sky -**  
**The thing I came to kill, and I.**  
**I, under covert, quietly**  
**Watched him sense eternity**  
**From quivering brush to pointed nose**  
**My gun to shoulder level rose.**  
**And then I felt (I could not see)**  
**Far off a hunter watching me.**  
**I slowly put me rifle by,**  
**For there were two who had to die -**  
**The thing I wished to kill, and I.

**~Author unknown**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N **–_Immense gratitude and love for Gasaway Alley and TwiliteAddict for your pre-reading and beta work. This story would be a mess without the input of these talented ladies. Please make sure to check out their stories, as they are phenomenal writers._

* * *

There are moments in your life that define you.

Isabella created so many of these moments for me, they became a watershed, flowing over the hardened stone of who I thought I was as a man and as a monster and patiently shaped me into someone I am proud to be. Love, Loss, Death and Rebirth—we had been through it all. Yet, lying beneath an indigo sky, too dark for mid-morning, as the sun diminished to a fiery ring around a dark, depthless eye, I could not help but feel there was so much more to come.

Solar eclipses may happen twice a year, and only by the miracle of chance and small geometric shifts in the moon's wobbly orbit around the earth. The fact there was one happening right at this moment, directly above us, was as highly significant as it was improbable. Despite the divinely inspired implications of an astronomical event of this magnitude, I felt no fear. No trepidation. Like the Sun god Ra, who had summoned her, I had complete faith Bella would save the world as she had saved me. The halo highlighting the dark eclipsed eye in the sky seemed to blaze in agreement

"Is that...normal?" Bella wrinkled her nose in doubt as she asked the question.

"No," I answered. After all, what is normal? "It's actually quite perfect."

Bella rolled over to look at me, eyebrow arched. "Perfect? How so? Was the sex really that good, or did your brain actually get scrambled in the process?"

Her wit elicited a smile before I dove into the details. "The chance of this event happening now at this location is...very slim. You see, if the moon executed a perfect elliptical orbit around the earth, we would have a solar eclipse thirteen times a year. But, because the lunar orbit of the Moon is off by five degrees making it spin around us like a slightly wonky top, the chance of it coming in direct line with the orbital path the earth travels around the sun is greatly reduced."

"Thanks for the lecture, Stephen Hawking. Exactly how is this information supposed to make me feel _better_ about the astronomical anomaly above us right now?"

"The rarity _is_ the beauty of it, Isabella. Just like you." I caressed her cheek gently, coaxing a brilliant smile to blossom over her lips. My heart surged with immense love for this woman. I'm sure my hands would've been shaking had my physiology allowed such a thing. "It has inspired me to...do this."

I leaned in and kissed her on the mouth, passion and purpose melding into deep-seated awareness of the importance of this moment. This was the moment to define _us_. Gently laying her back on the ground, I pulled away, and then reached for her left hand, stretching it above us towards the lavender sky. I positioned her ring finger just below the shimmering, golden ring of sun. Closing my thumb and forefinger around the brilliant star burning many light years away in space, her small gasp confirmed my clever illusion of offering her the eclipsed sun as an engagement ring had worked. In completion of this age old ritual of betrothal, all I had to do was say the words I had literally been aching to say to her for so long.

"Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?"

Struggling with the decision to laugh or cry, this powerful woman seemed undone, barely managing to speak. I waited in excruciating anticipation, believing she could move my heart to beat with her answer. Wrapping both arms around me, she dissolved into me, raining kisses across my face and neck.

"Yes! Yes, Edward! I will marry you."

I never felt more complete, and though we were naked and seemingly vulnerable to the elements, I felt nothing but power fueled by the pure joy in knowing we would be together as man and wife. Her words echoed within our sacred space, and like Adam and Eve, we were clad in nothing but love and eclipsed sky.

Unable to help myself, I jumped up, pulling her with me. I didn't know if I should dance or shout from the rooftops—_she said yes!_ My heart was filled, yet my next thought was of my family. I could not wait to share this news with them.

"Come on, let's get dressed and get back to the house to celebrate our news."

Quick as we could manage, we dressed as the moon completed its slow crawl across the Sun's path. Bella couldn't stop smiling as she talked about how thrilled Alice, Esme, and Rose would be about a planning a wedding.

Amused with her obvious excitement, I was just about to take her hand to race back to the compound, when we heard the lonely cry of wolves to the north of us. The moon finished its shading of the sun, bringing brilliance back to the day, but not enough to banish the dark shadow passing over Bella's face.

"Even if I could, I'm not sure I would want to know the thoughts behind that look. What's wrong, love?"

She was silent for too long. My heart sunk. What could possibly make her unhappy in this moment? With a grim set to her jaw she could barely look me in the eye as she stammered over her reasoning.

"Edward, I can't explain it. I am more than happy to become your wife, it's a dream come true!"

"But?"

She smiled sadly and looked past me as she continued in a small voice. "There's this nagging little voice in my head, stressing this need to make sure there's nothing lurking around the corner, waiting to ruin our happiness. When I heard the wolves...I couldn't help but wonder if before we tell the others this news, maybe I should...you know…break the news to Jake first."

If there was ever anything tough to swallow, it was my pride in that moment. I struggled with the heavy tension thickening the air as she waited for me to respond. Even though it was less than a second, it was enough for her to understand I was uncomfortable. I failed at trying to cover my disappointment, falling into old habits and answering her in a tone that was too clipped.

"Whatever you feel you need to do...but in light of him and Leah finally imprinting...I really can't see him having a problem with it."

Scowling at me, she placed a hand on her hip and proceeded to shoot straight from it.

"I'm telling him _first_ out of respect, _not_ guilt ridden obligation"

Shame singed my insides, burning away the pathetic remnants of old jealousies concerning Jacob. I couldn't blame her for wanting to break the news to Jacob first. Technically, he was still her husband. Realistically, he was her oldest friend and would always be family to her. Even though his true imprint finally activated with the lifting of the curse, I had to respect how important Jake has been to her throughout her life.

"I'm sorry. How about I help you track him and Leah down? I would imagine they are roaming off the grounds today. They don't like to spend too much time in the commune."

"Can you blame them?" she mumbled beneath her breath, instantly regretting her sharp comment when she saw how deep the insult sliced. I was shocked at her sudden change in behavior and wondered if there was something more below the surface.

"Whoa there," I said, holding my hands in mock surrender, "...on your side, remember? How did this amazing moment careen into an argument? "

"I have no idea what's gotten into me. I'm sorry, Edward. You're right, I am ruining this beautiful moment. I'm just..."

She closed her eyes, tensing with some war she fought within her mind. Gathering calm about her with deep meditative breaths, she reopened her eyes. I felt like such a heel, as if I had pushed her too far. It was too easy for me to forget and take for granted she was newly made. And though her transformation and awakening was nothing like I had ever encountered in the vampire world, I could and should not discount her vulnerability. No matter how strong she made herself out to be, erratic emotions were not to be trifled with. She had so much on her mind, and I wasn't doing my job to alleviate any of it.

"Please, Bella, accept my apologies. You shouldn't have to explain yourself and I should not question your need to speak with Jacob. You have so much going on right now, I honestly don't know how you keep yourself on such an even keel. Just remember, you are not in it alone. Ever. Especially now."

I reached for her hands and swept a light stroke across her ring finger. Sighing, she smiled and squeezed back.

"I love you so much, Edward. Your proposal was..."

"Out of this world?" I waggled my eyebrows at the cheesy joke, enticing a smirk and a solid punch to my right arm.

"I never thought I would say this, but, Isabella, my darling, let's go see if we can find a couple of wolves and let them know we are getting married."

Bella gave me a playful shove and ran off ahead of me, her voice trailing behind her in cheeky challenge,

"Not if I find them first!"

)()(

_What was wrong with me?_

Edward Cullen, love of my life, just proposed to me, yet here I was running at warp speed in the opposite direction to look for my ex-husband? From the outside looking in, one would think I still had a thing for Jacob, but I knew this was not the case at all. There was nothing I wanted more than to be with Edward until time stopped. But something stirred within me when I heard the wolves cry, triggering a strange sense of foreboding. Like I was missing something that was linked to the pack. My first thought was that it had to do with Jacob – at least it seemed like a good place to start. Jacob was my last stop on a map filled with guilt trips, so it seemed the logical place to backtrack and make sure things were balanced between us before I set my sights on what lay ahead for Edward and I.

I also knew my life was still not my own to live. I had a mission to complete first, and barely a clue how to begin. I knew a little of _what_ and some of _why_, but absolutely nothing in regards to _how_ and _when_. I definitely needed more pieces of this puzzle that was my ultimate destiny.

As I ran, I let the little I knew flow through my more than capable brain. According to Ra, the "what" consisted of battling with a revenge-driven ex-goddess. I loathed to even think about the "why." Flashes of the vision with Edward wasting away twisted my insides with a cold vise-like grip. Ra had made it quite clear there was no one but The Source who could heal Edward should that premonition come to pass.

For all my shaking of the heavens, all it got me was a meeting with a deity who couldn't even give me his name, let alone any substantial information. If I hadn't noticed the name of the boat on that life preserver, Edward and I would still be trying to hash out what pantheon we were dealing with.

I didn't have _any_ information on how to find The Source. How can I protect someone I can't find? I needed to find out more on the goddess Hathor. Edward believed The Forsaken to be the goddess Sekhmet, who was known as the goddess of War, Pestilence and Disease.

_Disease._ A sickening thought oiled to the surface—chances are Edward's illness would come from her hands. One thing I knew for certain, if she dared infect my lover with disease, I could guarantee her a war.

Emotions surged like a storm inside of me. I had no doubt Edward was more than happy to let me run off ahead of him so I could get my moodiness under control. Eventually, I felt the tension ease, resolving that there was nothing to do about unseen events in the future but worry, which helps no one.

I felt confident making sure my karma was square with Jake was the right thing to do, but I needed to lighten the mood and speed up this search for the wolves so Edward and I could get back and celebrate with the family. I knew I wasn't that far ahead of him. Looking up, I thought an impromptu ambush was a playful solution for clearing the air and turn things around.

Scaling a large Aspen was a lesson in gravity. I could bend the rules of physics easily with speed and agility. As a human, I would still be three feet from the bottom, suffering bark burn and a raging case of "what the hell was I thinking?"

From my perch, I looked out across the incredibly vast valley and realized I could find Leah and Jake much faster if I used a method Harry taught me a long time ago. Convincing Edward it was safe, however, might be a challenge. I readied myself when I heard his approach. He was going to pass right beneath the tree in _three, two..._

A precision launch earned me the element of surprise from above. Victory was mine, even as Edward lay sprawled beneath me with a stupid grin on his face.

"Well done, but I'm sure I don't need to tell you that as you seem quite proud of yourself."

"Of course I am. It's not easy to get the drop on Edward Cullen."

His smile took a tender turn as he assessed my mood change. "You seem to be feeling a little better? A good run always clears the head."

"It did, and I have an idea on how to look for Jake and Leah. It might be a little faster than relying on our noses."

"So, what exactly do you have in mind? I'm assuming something magic oriented as I'm pretty attuned to the scent of wolf, especially Quileute pack, and I'm getting nothing."

I rolled off of Edward and arranged myself in a standard lotus position for meditation. I wasn't sure how long my experiment would take, so the more physically relaxed I looked to Edward the better considering his penchant to worry. He sat opposite me with a patient, yet puzzled look on his face.

"When Leah and I were teens, we played with the Ouija board a few times. We could never really get it to do anything, and I'm pretty sure Leah was pushing it most of the time. But one night, Harry caught us playing with it and got really angry. He was railing on and on about playing with powers we had no right inviting into our spiritual space. He broke the board in front of us and took it outside to burn it."

"Sounds like ol' Harry wanted to be sure the both of you got the point."

"We sure did. Oh, but he wasn't done; he offered to teach us a lesson we would not soon forget. _'You want to try something that will scare you? I can show you how to tear yourself in two and look at yourself from the outside.'_ I wanted to throttle Leah when she took her father's challenge."

Edward frowned, "So, what was it he taught you to do?"

"He took us outside and guided us through a meditation for astral projection...more commonly known as an Out of Body Experience, O.B.E for short."

"Did it work?"

"Yes, but not for very long. I could only do it for a minute. Leah screamed and scared me back into my body. I had had enough anyway. Harry's lesson about messing with spiritual forces landed the moment I felt my spirit rise up and out. I realized if I was able to separate my spirit from my body that all but confirmed for me spirits contacted through the Ouija board were real – and probably not to be messed with. "

"So… you want to try this astral projection to... go look for Jake?" Strain plucked the tight strings attached to Edward's hesitant question.

"Yes."

Silence.

"It won't be like it was in the In Between. I promise." My voice had a quality of pleading to it, which I wasn't entirely comfortable with.

"You vanished, Bella, from the spiritual AND physical realm, and I had no idea where you went!" His temper flared fast and hot. "_You_ didn't even know where you went! I _just _got you back."

"I know. _I know_, Edward, but trust me okay? I know what I am doing. Harry is an amazing shaman and whatever he taught me, he always taught me well."

I hated lying to him, even by omission.

I _did_ know what I was doing, but despite everything I'd been through, and everything I'd learned, I was still a little scared. Out of Body Experiences are just plain freaky. Looking down on yourself and feeling that strange duality of having your spirit and physical self separated was not an easy thing to get used to. At least I knew what to expect this time. I could also take precautions.

"Would you feel better if you knew I was going to ask for help?"

"Help from me? I have no idea how to help you except stay back here and...worr...errr, _wait._" He truly fought against the bitterness creeping into his tone, which was why I chose to ignore it.

"Well, not from you, exactly. I could summon Taha Aki to help me through this experience. He is my spirit guide. I was bonded to him during the sweat lodge ceremony I experienced with Harry before we went to war with the Volturi." I knew this was the best solution—after all, anyone can get lost, and losing your soul or spirit self… well, that's a tough one to fix. Edward's fretful demeanor lifted as he considered my proposal.

He then made an offer that surprised us both.

"Should I hold your hands? Perhaps that will align my...energies with yours?" His vulnerable awkwardness touched me. He was trying so hard to conform to this new paradigm of abilities I possessed and needed to use without his usual discerning judgment.

"I think that would be a wonderful idea. And Edward…one more thing?"

He reached for my hands and mimicked my lotus sitting style. "Yes?"

"I love you so much."

Pure love pulsed from his body to mine in a warming vibrating wave of energy as our hands came together. It was smart of him to suggest aligning his energy with mine, and I never realized the strength his support could loan to me until I felt it flow and tingle through my body. His inward gasp confirmed he felt the loop close between us too.

I closed my eyes and focused my intent like Harry had taught me. Visualization was the first step, and in my mind's eye, I conjured out of memory the human form of my spirit guide. Taha Aki wavered and solidified with his back to me, almost like he was walking away.

"_Taha Aki, I request your help"_

Sensing my call, he turned in profile and said "It's about time." He smiled at me as if he held a great secret before morphing into a hawk and flying off.

So much for conversation first. I assumed he wanted me to follow him.

I dropped to a deeper mediation in preparation to leave my body. I removed all thought except the hypnotic beauty of Taha Aki's spirit bird circling lazily above me, waiting for me to join him.

_So much for my promise I wouldn't be flying anytime soon!_ I really hadn't thought this through as thoroughly as I should have.

_Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound, Isabella._ I began to chant to myself to eke the fear out of my system. _You are safe. Edward is with you. You are not going to plummet to the earth in a ball of fire. _

I had to admit, this was a very different experience from the O.B.E I tried as a teen. It was also different from when I channeled my power to play telephone with the gods. The first time was done out of curiosity and adrenaline fueled fear. The second was fueled with emotional impulse and no sense of consequence. This time I had a rational, pointed purpose:

_Find Jake. Assure balance._

A current of calm flooded my body, and I began to test and isolate the vibratory hum of my surroundings. Harry had taught me every living thing resonated with sound waves, and the trick to communing with anything was to tune your body to vibrate in the same frequency as your target. The astral plane vibrated at a very high frequency; therefore, the only way to reach it was to heighten one's own vibrations.

There was one human emotion that vibrated very high and very strong and that was love.

Unconditional love is a very special magic all Shamans and wise men hold in high regard. During my meditation all I needed to do was to think of how much love was in my life, and my chakras would light up like Christmas trees. Chakras, being more or less gateways to varying levels of enlightenment or inter-dimensional awareness, needed to be lit up or "opened" in order to move our spiritual energy from stem to stern. These meta-physical points were mapped along the center of the body from our sexual organs to our brain and, once opened, the spirit could move without impediment through each gateway or chakra. They could even leave the body through the third eye chakra, believed to be located in the middle of the forehead. For my out of body experiment to work, I needed to join Taha Aki on the spirit plane by guiding my spirit to exit my body through this chakra.

It's strange being able to isolate yourself on a spiritual level. Spiritual energy can take on light and heat, and those sensitive to its subtle ways can discern it easily with practice. I could feel, even visualize, my own energy moving along my spinal column like a phantom.

I knew from Harry's teachings I could travel in my spiritual form as any animal form I wished, so I mentally shaped and molded my inner light into a bird, just like Taha Aki's. With the gentlest push of energy, my spirit bird burst from the middle of my forehead and I suddenly became completely aware of what was behind, above, below, and all sides. Spiritual sight was completely different from physical sight, wherein you could only see what was in front of you. I could see from every angle as the blue sky swallowed me in a rush of air and space. I was very much aware of my physical self as I sat in a relaxed state of meditation. Edward held my hands and had his own eyes closed.

My spirit bird rode the wind as if I had been doing so my entire existence. Taha Aki let forth an impatient screech as if goading me to catch up. His call sounding more crow-like than hawk.

"_Ka, KA!"_

"_I'm coming!" My_ thoughts burst back with a shameful hint of impatience. His laugh sounded in my head, letting me know we could communicate telepathically.

"_Well done, Isabella, and so you know, I wasn't cawing at you like some old trickster crow. 'Ka' is the Egyptian word for 'light body', which you have successfully separated from your physical one. I knew you could do it even though you did not. We must work on your fear..._

"_Egyptian?!" _I interrupted, this connection surpassed any guise of coincidence, and there was no way I was letting the reference go.

"_Yes. The Hawk is out of the bag. I'm Egyptian in origin. Pricolici is simply the name the Romanians gave to me when I arrived in their country asking for an alliance. I had the witch twins and a goddess to protect."_

I knew Taha Aki was in Romania with the Moroi and the witches, but it was never mentioned in legends what Taha Aki's origins had been. The missing piece which explained my destined entanglement with Egyptian deities was beginning to come to light. It finally dawned on me why Ra's bird seemed so familiar to me and why it seemed he could see right through me as if he _knew_ me.

It was because he did.

"_You were there with him in hawk form! With Ra!"_

"_Yes."_

"_Why didn't you say anything to me there? Do you have any idea how confused I was with his secrets and general dodginess? What was that all about?"_

Taha Aki grumbled unintelligibly in agreement before taking a bitter tone_, "I know. I'm so sorry, Isabella. It was bad enough I had to call in an ancient favor to get him to finally pull his head out of the sand and get involved. I know it is wrong to hold judgment against my brother, and yet..."_

"_Brother?" _I replied, stunned_. "What do you mean... brother?"_

"_So much to tell you," _he sighed with hesitation, threatening my control.

"_I'm getting that. How about we start with something simple...like...who are you, really?"_

"_I am a very old soul who has traveled upon the earthly plane in many forms and guises protecting The Source and the bloodline sworn to be her salvation. This quest in protecting The Source has exhausted the majority of my skills as a husband, a father, a Chief, a warrior...even as a god. Since the Eye came into being, I have given my all in correcting Ra's mistake. It was no easy task separating Chaos from Creation. I had to drug the beast in order to do it! I can guarantee Sekhmet's not falling for that one again. " _

"_You're Thoth?"_

"_Yes. I was Thoth, god of Knowledge, per the Greek accounts of my legends. In Egyptian, I was Tahuti. When I shunned my godhead for the anonymity of a shifter being, I became Taha Aki. As Taha Aki, I tried to protect Hathor when the Djinn was stolen from her. It was my seed that begat the bloodline prophesied to save her." _

"_Why was none of this in the Grimoires? In the legends?" _

"_My true identity is one which I have kept secret even from my many wives and sons. Contrary to what I know you are thinking, you are not the last to know. In fact, you are the first of my line to learn of their true heritage in over two millennia."_

"_Why did you feel the need to keep it secret?"_

"_The Forsaken scoured the world for revenge upon me for my involvement in her capture and banishment. She wanted my head as much as she wanted The Source's. We could never let her know either of our whereabouts, so we assumed different identities in every corner of the world we hid in."_

This admission was cold comfort as I still couldn't help but feel duped somehow. Suspicion weighed me down and I tried harder to maintain a vibration of positivity. I pressed my spirit guide for truth knowing if he was the god of Knowledge, I would have it.

"_We aren't going to look for Jacob and Leah are we?"_

"_No. I think we both know this is not necessary. You are imprinted to the vampire, and the wolves have imprinted on each other. All is balanced there. You broke the curse. You are partially right in that you need balance. The imbalance you feel is from your fear of losing Edward; of failing. These insecurities can only be balanced with knowledge, which is something I can supply you."_

"_You will answer any question I have?"_

"_I will give you the answers you seek if they are within my capability to give."_

If I needed to know anything, it was what I was up against.

"_I want to know who The Forsaken is."_

"_You have already figured out she was once Sekhmet. She was the Goddess Hathor's twin. Ra combined their godheads to form the Eye of Ra. You also know I had to help him separate them. What you really need to know is who she is now." _

"_Okay, I can't help but feel that statement has some ominous foreshadowing to it. Who is she now?"_

"_She is Sulpicia of the Volturi."_

"_Holy. Shit. Is she ever going to have an axe to grind with me."_

"_She's sharpening it as we speak. Sulpicia has used the Volturi to further her agenda in subjugating the vampire race for centuries. Thanks to you decimating her powerful army, she is left exposed. But don't underestimate her, especially with her back in a corner. She is still very powerful in her command of dark magics."_

"_Is she a vampire herself?"_

"_No, but her claim on them, at least in her mind, has validity. You see, when she combined with her sister, Hathor, to make the Eye of Ra, Sekhmet went mad with the combined powers of their Chaos and Creation godheads. Bloodlust was the Eye's only form and function and thousands perished beneath her teeth. Hathor, being the goddess of Creation, was overpowered by her twin's gory gluttony, but some of her Creation magic leaked through. Three days later, the bodies of the dead rose. Whole, strong, and immortal like the goddesses who made them and able to proliferate from living humans. Half abomination, half blessing—the Vampire race was born." _

My mind reeled. Hathor, goddess of Creation, was the only one who would have the power to heal Edward since she was the progenitor of his race! I fully understood now why The Source was named as such and how she could help Edward.

"_Ra said The Forsaken was coming for me. Can't I just seek Sulpicia out and eliminate her as I did her guard?"_

"_Any approach against Sulpicia on her own turf is folly. She used to be the Goddess of War. She would have any compound or castle completely secure, if not with vampire guards, then with the darkest of magics. It would exhaust too much time, energy, and strategy to break through those types of barriers. It is best if we draw her out of her fortress and make her come to us. Fueled by anger, she tends to be careless.."_

What Taha Aki was telling me made sense. Best wait for her to come to me. At least I knew _what and who_ was coming now—not that it made it any easier to swallow.

"_I wasn't looking forward to planning an assault anyway." _I couldn't help my sarcasm.

"_Yes, you will have enough on your hands with planning a wedding. Congratulations." _

"_Thank you, and not just for your well wishes, but your guidance. Your sacrifice. I truly hope it all ends with me. I feel like a weight has been lifted now that I have a little more information and security in knowing I have you in my corner, not to mention, how very long you've been there."_

"_Always and Forever, Isabella Marie. You are descended from gods, dear one, and you are everything we hoped you would be. Now, look down."_

I turned my Sight beneath us and saw we had come full circle around the valley during our talk and we were back to my physical body.

"_Go back to your body and carry with you the knowledge that you are not alone in this war. It has waged along the line of time long before you were even a Promise during the darkest moments of our defense against The Forsaken. This quest will not be without pain for you, but you have an unlimited supply of love, Isabella. Love with Edward, his family, and yours. With my own! Go, surround yourself in love for it is the greatest power in your arsenal."_

Diving into my body, I felt the grounding rush of returning to the material density of the physical plane. My eyes opened to see Edward staring back intently, relief washing over his body.

"Well, did you find them?"

"No, but thanks to Taha Aki, I found what I was looking for and so much more."

"Which is...?"

"Answers enough for temporary peace of mind and a huge helping of hope. I'll tell you all about it on the way back to the house. We have a wedding to plan, Mr. Cullen."

Edward's face crumpled with emotion. Relief still riding him raw, he reached for me, crushing me to him, and barely able to speak he managed to choke out, "Yes. Yes we do."


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N – **__This chapter is dedicated to __**OcSickGirl**__ who found my little story Broken Doll six weeks ago and pied pipered a slew of new readers to my door. Though it's been six months since my last update, __I__ can offer nothing but apologies and the firm promise the next update will not be so long a wait. If all goes well, __I__ will be posting Chapter 15 in two weeks and wrapping the entire story up in five chapters or less. Thanks to all my readers, old and new for their patience and support. You are the lifeblood of this fandom._

_Much gratitude and appreciation for __**TwiliteAddict **__and __**Gasaway Alley**__ for your editing and critique work!_

_Now, without any further ado, we return to Amun Ra and Eleazar in Egypt..._

**From Chapter 11:**

**"Goddess and Consort. Sulpicia! She is here."**

**Amun-Ra nodded his head, his hands flexing into fists. His anger rolled off him in waves.**

**"Yes."**

**"My Lord, I am yours to command. What do we do?"**

**Handing me the bottle that Sulpicia would murder for, I knew there could be no "we." It was time for me to run and for Amun-Ra to stop running from his wretched daughter.**

_**This was going to be one hell of a family reunion.**_

* * *

With the healing my high priest had given me, my concerns about having to continue carrying the volatile Djinn were diminished. However, I was now consumed with worry for Amun Ra. Would he kill his own daughter if that is what the situation demanded?

From what I gathered through his revealing explanation of painful family history, one of the main reasons he had not faced Sekhmet, aka Sulpicia, was his guilt caused by choosing to protect Hathor from the monster he himself had created.

Despite removing her godhead, Sekhmet had found other ways to cultivate power... dark power from dealing death and destruction for thousands of years. Amun Ra could no longer ignore the beast she had become.

"The plan, Eleazar, is to make sure Sulpicia doesn't get what she came for, which means getting you and the Djinn as far away from here as possible."

I looked around at the sanctuary Hathor had created. The sun was shining bright and true in the bluest of skies. A refreshing breeze danced around us. The idyllic setting was completely at odds with the storm of fear rattling around inside me. A sickening thought developed.

"How do we keep Sulpicia from just coming into this Sanctuary and taking both the Djinn AND The Source?"

To see fear ghost across the face of a god is a truly humbling experience. Only a being faced with the starkness of mortality wears that look. Whose death did he fear? His own? _Could Sulpicia actually kill Amun Ra? _There was no doubt as to the fact she would if she could, andJaru had mentioned Ra was the only god to have walked the earth as a mortal. Did that privilege make him vulnerable somehow? Was this the weakness I had detected in comparing his strength to his daughter's? I sincerely doubted Ra feared his own death. No, he feared what he had been avoiding all these eons: having to kill his daughter, putting an end to the beast he had a hand in creating.

"I am the God of Consciousness, Eleazar. I hear your thoughts! The fears I carry are not for my own hide, dear Brother, it is for yours and mankind's, should we fail. If Sekhmet achieves her goal and becomes the Eye of Ra once more, she will not stop until she's devoured the world."

Chilling resolve shaped his tone, but still I wondered if he could pay the ultimate price and end Sulpicia if he had to.

His determined eyes flashed the ice blue of his race.

"It is time for me to face my wayward daughter. But not without a little help..."

The golden Ankh and staff of the mighty sun god materialized in his outstretched hands. Positioning the looped top of the ankh over his mouth, he sang a low, baritone _Ohm_, which rumbled up from the very depths of his body and resonated across the water, up into the sky. The sun immediately brightened in response growing larger ... _no _... _coming closer_ to our position lakeside. The heat and brightness of the day intensified to the point where even I was uncomfortable. But I cared not. Never in my existence did I ever think I would witness a phenomenon such as this divine transference of power!

A black spot on the sun swirled into a dark eye, growing larger and larger until a great burst of fire erupted from it. The sky went from blue to white as a bright beam of aquamarine, auroral energy streamed from the sky directly into the staff Ra was holding in his other hand. His entire body burst into light and time fractured. I knew nothing but white light all around me, and sincerely wondered if my retinas had burned up to leave me permanently blind.

Strangely, I felt no fear. Rapture raced across my body wrapped in a whispering kiss of solace. Even the negative vibes whispering from the Djinn's bottle stilled in that slip of time, suspending us in a completely silent space of nothingness. Then reality knitted itself back together and my sight returned.

Night now reigned in Hathor's world. The sun had been replaced with a large, blood-red moon, a harvest moon. Its light cascaded down in a beam to point to the center of Hathor's island located in the middle of her Lake of Tears. Ra stood before me ready for a reaping and dressed in some type of enchanted armor. The breast, elbow, and shin plates shimmered like liquid light. His helmet was the head of a falcon, his spirit animal. The ankh was gone, but the staff was in his left hand, a low vibrational hum pulsed from it in a promise of power. Here was a god prepared for war.

I dropped to my knee before the god I would serve until the end of time, humbled to be witness to his divine dealings and consumed with guilt for my lapse in faith.

Amun Ra's voice held a teasing edge, not the booming gruff I expected from the mighty warrior I saw before me. He grabbed a hold of my arm and hauled me effortlessly to my feet.

"Again with the kneeling, Eleazar? Come. We have a dimensional doorway to cross and defend. Hold on, we needed to be out of here five minutes ago, so this time we are not taking the scenic route." He smiled conspiratorially. "...though I can promise a dazzling light show."

Gripping the Benji's bottle a little tighter, I had barely enough time to shut my eyes against the strobing streams and beams of light swirling in a vertigo-inducing vortex around us. Though it lasted only seconds, the blinding brightness of the flash had tattooed itself on the back of my eyeballs to project like ghosts across my vision. Blinking in disorientation I hadn't experienced since I was human, I found myself being unceremoniously shoved through the doorway, only to have it shut behind me with a resounding, ominous finality. The precious stones vibrated in their settings with the force of it. Amun Ra proceeded to make his way up the stairs quickly.

"You couldn't just transport us to the top of the stairs?" I hedged, as I followed after him.

"It is not yet dawn in this dimension; I have to conserve the energy I received from the Sun in Hathor's world. Just as Sulpicia draws her magic from the darker corners of death and destruction, my powers are fueled by the sun itself.

_Dawn? Had we been gone that long? Surely we had only been gone a few hours, it should only be late evening. _I then remembered Ra's statement earlier about time moving differently in Hathor's world.

"Would the tourists be gone then?" I asked.

"Oh yes, long gone, and I'm thankful that is one less problem we have to worry about..."

He stopped short on the stairs and ran his hands over a large glyph on the wall. It was a depiction of Hathor's necklace.

"_Menit._..of course, how could I forget?" the god whispered in sudden recollection.

"The necklace, my lord?"

"Yes! The necklace! You must tell Isabella about the necklace, I was going to but.." the god's brow furrowed in contemplation which he shook off as quickly as it descended. "Hathor is the goddess of love, fertility, birth, rebirth – she kept pieces of that magic in the Menit! Magic that could help Benji remember. Magic that could bring Hathor back."

It suddenly dawned on me Amun Ra was talking as if he would not make it out of here to tell Isabella himself. Not wanting to press him on this matter, I decided it was best to simply do whatever was asked of me.

"Of course! Where is this 'Menit'?"

"A sympathizer with the OurosBouros Brotherhood has been keeping it for me in Dublin, Ireland. You need to get in contact with Dr. Siobhan O'Riorden of Trinity University."

Upon committing the information to memory, we crested the top of the stairs and exited through the floor in the Temple Sanctuary. The damp coolness of night still clung to the air, along with other, more ominous, odors. The cloying, spicy scent of Sulpicia's blend of dark magics threaded down from the antechambers just ahead of us. It was easy to tell she had used much of her own power stores fighting with Ra's Djinn, Jaru, as the reek of it was permeating.

"Sulpicia's used much of her magic to fight with my Jaru. This bodes well for us," Amun Ra stated with assuredness.

Pride lit a fire within him. I didn't have the heart to voice aloud that magic or no, Sulpicia's skills in all manners of combat, coupled with her psychotic disregard for mercy of any form, were enough to make even the strongest warrior's knees knock. This I was sure Amun Ra already knew, having experienced the plunging depths of his daughter's evil caprices. Though he was ready for war, I had a feeling Ra would destroy the temple itself, burying the door to Hathor's world forever before he would destroy Sulpicia.

As if on cue, an ear-splitting, revenant's cry of the most sickening intent scattered like scarabs against the ancient stone walls. A blue light pulsed ahead of us, filtering through the darkness like a phantom. Just below Sulpicia's evil laughter, Jaru's strained moans could be heard. The pitiful sounds ripped through Amun Ra like a tempest, tension rippling across his body, coiling like a snake ready to spring. To act. _Avenge._

I shuddered at the thought of what could inspire such evil sounds of pleasure from Sulpicia.

"Please, my lord, let me fight with you," I pleaded.

The high priest's battle-ready face took my measure and reached for Benji's bottle. He held it in one hand and closed his eyes, placing his other hand palm up in anticipation of offering. A shimmery replica of the bottle Sulpicia had made to trap Benji blinked into existence in his previously empty hand. He handed me back the original.

"This is my fight, Eleazar, but first I will offer my daughter a trade. One Djinn for another ...however you will be the only one leaving here with both."

"I will do everything within my power to make sure that is so."

"It would certainly be in your best interest. Jaru could be your only ticket out of here. No matter what happens, get Jaru to the roof. The stairs are on the east wall just before archway to Hypostyle Hall."

Forcing us into action, Jaru's screams echoed down the hallway as the blue lights darkened to purple, thickening and threading around us like a serpentine specter.

Amun Ra went left and directed me to go right as we set off to flank Sulpicia. I kept apace along the eastern edges of the temple walls, sliding through the smog of Sulpicia's spun sorcery, concentrating all my efforts on remaining unseen.

When she finally came into view, Sulpicia was too deeply involved in her work to notice Amun Ra and I approach. I could not be thankful for her distraction as Jaru's bravery was beyond anything I had ever witnessed, and I had seen many creatures sliced and diced on the cold, metal tables in Sulpicia's oubliette.

Steel stilettos struck the stone floor as she circled her prey, the harsh shots of sound echoing off the solid walls. She had costumed herself as if she was taking part of a nostalgic homecoming, wearing an Egyptian linen himation and finely-worked gold and lapis lazuli jewelry. Her dress, however, was grotesquely splattered with Jaru's blood.

Suspended in the air in front of her, the Djinn was hanging upside down. His legs and hands had been bound with ropes of fire in such a way that he resembled an upside down ankh. Black magic was bred in this type of blasphemous symbolism, and Sulpicia had dove deep into her darker dealings with the underworld to desecrate the poor Djinn. To spill blood in this way on sacred ground was true evil, and this ritual had a much more sinister intent than mere torture for information. The odor corrupting the air was not evidence of Sulpicia's spent magic. In fact, it was just the opposite. She was offering sacrifice for power and Jaru was being slowly, sadistically siphoned of his magic as his burned and barely recognizable body writhed beneath her bonds.

She drew close to him, lovingly caressing the raw, burnt flesh of his wounds while whispering in his ear,

"I followed that thief Eleazar here only to find you instead. _Another_ Djinn. Not mine, but an interesting coincidence, don't you think?"

Jaru refused to answer and I wondered if he even could. Being upside down had caused the viscous mess that was his insides to dangle and drip from his open wounds down his neck, over his closed mouth, and into his eyes.

His silence did not seem to faze her, but I knew her patience was dwindling, you could see it in the grit of her teeth and tight clipped movements of her body.

"I will ask you one, last time. _Where. Is. My. __Djinn_?"

Jaru made motions with his mouth to speak. When Sulpicia moved closer to listen, the Djinn spat blood and teeth into her face, seething through his struggle to speak, "Benji... is not... yours"

Sulpicia's bloody face split into a Cheshire cat grin which held no warmth, only the cold edge of cruelty.

"Oh, but he is. And you will be too."

Plunging one hand into his ravaged abdomen, she cupped his forehead with the other, placing her palm over his third eye like an anti-evangelical healer. Violet arcs of electrical energy crackled and crawled from the Djinn's body into Sulpicia's as he screamed in agony.

The reviling scene was a snapping point for Ra. His face contorted in disbelieving horror, then desolation before hardening into resolve. I was certain any guilt he had felt in choosing a side and making the monster capable of such butchery had drowned in the blood spilled by his beloved Djinn.

"Sekhmet! You dare desecrate your sister's temple?!"

Sulpicia whirled around, face morphing into that of a large cat. Her fingernails lengthened into claws and she hissed in defensive response. Enormous teeth were bared in a feral growl as she positioned herself in front of Jaru's body. The fierce lioness defending her kill wasn't to be trifled with.

But then again, neither was Amun Ra.

Emerging from the shadows, a ball of fire forming in his hand, Ra spoke in his celestial language. Then, like a rocket launching from his palm, the fire ball streaked over his daughter's ducked head and sliced through the enchanted ropes suspending Jaru. His battered body came crashing to the ground.

Sulpicia morphed back into human form, shrieking in disbelief,

"YOU!" Pointing to the pile of charred flash on the floor, she looked at her father incredulously, "This Djinn is _yours_? _You_ stole Benji back for Hathor?!"

"Yes." he replied calmly.

"Yes?! _YES?!" _Sulpicia grabbed her long locks of hair by the root of her scalp and screamed at the top of her lungs._ "Unbelievable!_ That's all you have to say to me after a couple thousand years of abandonment and coercion with my enemies?"

"You chose a darker path, my daughter. So dark I can no longer see you standing within its cold void."

"You gave me no choice. You let Ma'at strip me of my godhead to leave me defenseless!" she countered.

"Ma'at needed retribution for the lives you destroyed and forever altered!"

"ME?! What about Hathor? Where was _her_ punishment for the destruction caused by _BOTH OF US_ as the Eye? You preach about balance? You have always favored her, forcing me to steal and scrape for my own. You created a Djinn to protect her. So _I_ took it. You created an entire sacred Brotherhood, an army to protect and fight for her. So I created one of my own and took hers. That is what _I_ call balance."

"You know nothing of balance OR creation. Hathor created life from the bodies you laid to waste!" Amun Ra raged. "_You_ sought out negative energies and tipped the balance of your own Ka, daughter. You were fueled by notions of revenge and domination. I'm surprised with this tactic of yours in playing the victim. So unbecoming a Goddess of War, Sekhmet." his derision delivered, Ra softened his tone for the sell, "You are much better at negotiating, therefore I offer you a trade."

He showed her the copy of the Djinn's bottle only to make it disappear again when she reached for it.

"Now, now … This is yours in exchange for mine. The Djinn that used to be Benji is no more, as you have damaged him beyond repair. Taking into account the harm you have done to Jaru, I consider this offer an even trade."

Sulpicia considered the pitiable pile on the floor that was Jaru. In a miraculous surge of vigor, he had crawled over to his carved walking stick and was using it to attempt to stand. It took everything I had to not reveal myself by lending him my assistance. But I had to remain in my hiding spot, waiting for Ra's signal to retrieve Jaru and make for the roof.

"You want to trade Benji, Hathor's lover, for this pile of worthless flesh?"

Again the fake bottle materialized in his hand and he offered it to her. His eyes darted to his Djinn on the floor and he nodded solemnly. "Yes. I do. For not only did I create this Djinn, which you stole, I led the army which you razed, watched good men die to keep you at bay. Third time is the charm, daughter. For I created The Golden Eyed Queen, who will end you once and for all, with or without Benji's help."

Sulpicia froze, stung by the harsh words from her father's lips. She began to vibrate in anger as her eyes went from blue to pitch black pits of wrath and ruin.

In a burst of desperate energy, Jaru scrambled across the floor to create distance between himself and Sulpicia. The only sound audible in the entire temple was the desperate shuffle of his movement as he struggled towards me.

Then, as if her emotions flipped some sort of switch, manic laughter erupted from the witch, and I knew she had figured out the real reason Amun Ra had taken a stand and revealed himself.

"LIES! All lies." she snarled viciously. "You aren't here for this worthless Djinn. Or even for me. You've hidden Hathor here somewhere and you are finally showing your cowardly face because I am _so_. _Damn. Close._"

Sulpicia's head morphed back into the leonine beast that was her true form as she lunged for Amun Ra with razor sharp claws extended to rip and tear. The Ankh materialized in Ra's hand and he shouted very loudly in his strange, divine dialect. Before my astonished eyes, the sound took form, becoming a great fist of frequency blowing Sulpicia backwards into one of the gigantic pillars lining the center of the hall. Stone and dust pelted down from the ceiling as the pillar buckled and broke apart from the impact.

I took what I saw as my only chance to grab Jaru, reaching him just before a large piece of granite pinned him into the ground. Clutching me and his staff with a death grip, Jaru held on with surprising strength as I vaulted and veered through the rain of debris in an effort to get to the stairs before the entrance was blocked off by rubble.

As Sulpicia extricated herself from wreckage she caught sight of me and bellowed,

"Traitorous vampire! You will not leave here alive!"

Standing tall and terrifying, chanting curses while forming a dark ball of black flames, Sulpicia brought her arms up, finishing her spell with a deafening roar. Before she could bring it above her head to heave at us, she was thwarted once more by a trumpeting blast of sound, shaking the already unstable temple foundation.

I shot up the stairs to the roof of the temple amid a rain of debris as Amun Ra's voice rang behind us,

"The only one _not_ leaving here alive will be you, Sekhmet! Behold the power of RA!"

Dawn's light flooded the east window to stretch blood-red fingers down the staircase, obediently responding to the summons from Ra. He was pulling power to him from the sun as it crested the horizon..

I willed my legs to work faster as realization struck me:_ He was going to do it! Destroy the temple and bury the door!_

Bursting through the entrance to the rooftop, I felt the surface beneath me tremble and shake with the force of the battle below. I looked down at Jaru in my arms. His eyes held the knowing that his end was nigh. I realized in moments I would be carrying his body with me and nothing more. I wanted to keep running in the hopes we were both wrong, but Jaru's voice rang clearly in my head. He was managing to communicate with me telepathically, but I could tell even this took effort.

"_Please, leave me. My place is with my Master." _ he pleaded.

I stopped short to lay him gently on the rooftop. With dogged insistence, he put his staff in my hand and grabbed me by the shirt collar which was stained with his blood.

"_Take the staff, it is old magic, a key to open up portals."_

"Portals?" I said to him aloud.

The Djinn smiled weakly. _"Yes, interconnected doorways, they web across the entire planet"_

Beneath our feet the ominous rumbling promise of the Temple's ruin as the fight between Sulpicia and Amun Ra reached its peak. Jaru's eyes widened and he shoved me and the staff away from him.

"_You must go now! To the west, about thirty meters from the side of the Temple is the Sacred Lake."_

A sonic boom rippled outward from the center of the roof and large fissures snaked across the surface splintering towards us. I took off at a dead run toward the western edge of the roof, staff in hand, as Jaru broadcasted instructions to me,

_Jump into the center of the lake with the staff. Think of where you want to be, not where you are, and the door will open._"

I didn't look back when I heard the roof cave in, having only enough time to jump onto the ledge of the building, and locate the dried out ancient lake bed below. Suddenly, the staff came alive, sliding out of my hands to wrap its long, black muscular body around my head like a turban. Its head bobbed in front of my third eye like the uraeus the pharaohs wore when traveling to the afterlife, pointing towards the dark portal now forming at the center of the lake. I gave in to the magnetic pull it exerted on my body, and let myself fall.

The snake tightened its grip... _and spoke to me!_

"_Yessssss. Let go. Think of where you'd rather be..."_

Not only was I diving headfirst into the yawning abyss below me, there was a port key who thought it was a snake wrapped around my head _talking to me_!

I did the only thing I could which was heed its instructions. _Think of where I'd rather be. _Undoubtedly, I longed to be home. My mind instantly projected an image of Carmen's loving presence and our home in Barcelona. Even if that was not the place I _should_ go, it was definitely the place I'd rather be.

The blackness of the unknown rushed up from the ground to greet me, swallowing me whole, my trajectory no longer mine to control.


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N – It's a week late, but we got hit with a nasty flu which put the whole house out of commission for a few days. I would like to thank TwiliteAddict and Viola Cornuta for the editing and tidying up of this chapter. **_

_**This chapter picks up where we left off with Eleazar jumping into the portal. Enjoy and please review!**_

I'd like to say travelling through the portal was similar to Lewis Carrol's depiction of Alice falling through the rabbit hole, with visions of tree roots and floating furniture with tables set for tea, but our plummet into gods-knew-where had nothing to do with the force of gravity.

The snake, which used to be a walking stick, was wrapped tightly around my head like a turban, its own head protruding from my forehead like the prow of a boat, steering us through the slipstream of light we were riding. Beyond the blackness, I could see other shafts weaving this way and that, like translucent highways forming a type of web. Where the shafts intersected there were larger nodes...some were lit, some were not.

As we passed through the ones which were not lit, there was a cold drifting feeling in our trajectory. I didn't mind those so much as the lit sections, which had a flash and pull of sensory overload similar to a riptide trying to grab hold. Yet the snake seemed to buoy us through and onward after only a few terrifying seconds.

"Where are we?" I asked the snake timidly. I wondered if it would answer, as I had serious doubts it had spoken to me in the first place. Maybe I was experiencing some sort of supernatural psychotic break...

"_We are deep below the surface of the earth, travelling through her electromagnetic grid...the energy lines."_

"You mean like... leylines?"

"_Yesss. They are known by many names, in many cultures all over the world. In China they are called dragon lines. The Shamans of the Americas call them spirit lines. The Aborigines call them song lines. I like to call them by their original name – Lines of the Serpent."_

I peered into the lattice work of the Serpent Lines to try to discern if there were other travellers. I found none.

"How come I don't see others using these conduits?"

"_Othersssss travel the lines, but not safely...only I, the great Wadjet, am able to guide one safely through." _

_Wadjet. _So this was the Cobra's name.Which made "it" most definitely a "she". In fact, if memory served me correctly, Wadjet was an ancient goddess in her own right, though not much was known about her. She was the protector of kings, the cobra-headed Uraus that the pharonic kings wore on their crowns and funerary masks. It now made perfect sense why she chose to wrap herself around my head in the manner she did.

"_I used these linesssss to span the world and look for the sons of Ra. He was known as Atum then – the very first god of the Universe. He was so happy when I found Tefnut and Shu, he wept. It was from those tears humanity was born."_

"I am most honoured I have you to guide me, Goddess." My tone was humble. This snake had saved my hide in more ways than one.

"_Pleassssssse. Call me Djet. Hang on! Here comes another intersect. Two more before the final destination you have chosen."_

Suddenly remembering the precious cargo I carried, I squeezed the Djinn's bottle against my chest, petrified it would be pulled from me. Yet, Djet continued to navigate us through the strong pull of the criss-crossing energy lines with ease.

"Where do those cross sections lead to?" I thought of the empty, ancient pool I had to jump into and began to wonder what our re-entry would be like.

"_Holy places."_

"Like churches and mosques?"

"_Those are the more recent ones, but most of these have built over the older pagan sites. Stone circles, dolmens, mounds and pyramids are also portal markers."_

What she said was most definitely true. Most temples and churches were constructed in this manner and if they were _all_ built on locations where the energy grid intersected, it certainly explained the surge of spiritual energy one felt in these ancient places of power. I wondered if the lit sections had more strength than the darker ones.

"How come some of these sections are lit and some are not?"

"_Sssssssome entry sites have been destroyed. Buried. Blockaded. Mostly by humankind. A few by the gods themselves."_

An awful realization hit me...

"Errrm, Djet, what if our intersect is a darkened one? What happens then?"

"_It could be an interesting cross over. And it looks like you are about to find out." _

Darkness loomed ahead except for a thin shaft of light slicing through a bright sliver of hope in the depthless gloom.

"_Not completely closed, but this will be a tight squeeze, nonethelessssss..."_

Djet manoeuvred us through the cold blackness towards the beam and it became evident the size of the opening had nothing to do with its strength. As we entered into it, I felt an unbelievable compression seize my entire body, and I could swear I was probably changing shape in a way I doubt even today's quantum physics could explain. Djet brought levity to the situation with her emerging dry sense of humour.

"_Sssuck it in, Eleazar!"_

I squeezed my eyes shut against the suffocating encasement I felt. Moving through the tiny slip in space, wishing again I was Alice and there was a "Drink Me" potion available to make me smaller. Yet, no sooner had my complaint registered within my conscience did I hear a distinctive popping sound and I found myself in a rather awkward position.

My bottom was firmly planted but barely accommodated in a small stone basin, my long legs dangling in a graceless manner over the edge. I now understood the amplitude of the light was inversely related to the size of the portal. It would be just my luck that I would jump in to an empty lake and come out the other end in a birdbath the size of a bathroom sink. At least both reservoirs were dry and I was not a sopping wet mess.

Djet slithered down off my head and onto the floor of a stone courtyard while I quickly dismounted from the small water fountain. Looking around in the dim light of dawn, I recognized the scalloped Moorish arches of San Pau de Camps, the oldest church in Barcelona. My cold heart leapt within my chest… the boisterous Ravel district in which the church was located was a few dozen kilometres from mine and Carmen's home. An easy distance for me to cover quickly and covertly.

"I thought you said you transported your charges safely?" I teased as I righted my clothing and got my bearings for the nearest exit.

"_Most definitely, I navigate only the positive energy lines, so no harm comesssss to the Ka during the journey whereas others, such as Sekhmet, will use both, even the dangerous negative ones, damaging their balance."_

The Ka was considered the light body or soul of the being, so it made sense Sulpicia would pay no heed to the damage to her soul. Now I knew how she was able to travel so quickly across the planet when she absolutely needed to.

"Well, I certainly appreciate the due care you take with your passengers, Djet, and I thank you for your assistance. But I'm afraid, now we are in my neck of the woods and the noble citizens of Barcelona will soon be stirring, by any chance could you...?"

Understanding my question before I could finish it, the snake lengthened into the shape of the walking stick and transformed back into the beautifully carved object Jaru had paraded around the temple with as he proudly pointed out the ancient hieroglyphs. I struggled with the sharp loss and fear for my friends back in Egypt, but I knew I had no time to emotionally wallow on what lie behind me. Making my way out of the courtyard, I vowed to get on with my mission and get the Djinn to Bella once I made sure Carmen was safe.

As I quickly wove through the streets to our home, I noticed the city was bedecked for our annual Jazz Festival. Consuming dread spurned me into a frenzied dash as I realized _much_ more time had passed than I had originally assumed. It was early October when I arrived in Denderah. The Jazz Fest ran from the end of October to the end of November. I stopped in front of a newsstand and picked up a paper, confirming my fear - October 31. _I'd been gone for almost three weeks!_

Struck with how my mate must be fretting over my long absence, I reached into my pocket to retrieve my phone, only to find it wouldn't work. I surmised dimensional travel had an effect on electromagnetic equipment and not a very favourable one. I decided speed took precedence over stealth and tore through the city streets like a demon on fire.

_Three weeks of Sulpicia looking for me. She had to have come to the house...dear goddess, my Carmen!_

Not to diminish the strengths of my wife in protecting herself, but Sulpicia was not playing nice. I failed miserably in the attempt to push away the images of Jaru, strung up and bloodied in front of the mad monster, and to drown out the replay of the roof caving in behind me as two mighty gods fought one another. Horrific visions of what Sulpicia would do to my beloved ate away the last strings of my sanity. I had already lost Xandru. I couldn't imagine losing Carmen as well.

The thirty kilometre distance between San Pau and my mountaintop cottage in Passeig de Muntanya dissolved very quickly in my haste. The modest home I shared with Carmen came into view, seemingly untouched by the chaotic destruction I imagined Sulpicia wreaking. I all but tore the door off the hinges in my careless rush to enter and to make sure my love was safe.

Dismayed she did not greet me at the door, I rushed around the house calling her name, not caring if my voice sounded terrified. Nothing but the strains of silence answered. My methodical mind kicked in once I went to our bedroom and noticed several outfits in her walk in closet missing. Gone also was her favourite Luis Vuitton Luggage. Hope spread tiny tendrils when I spotted the envelope addressed to me on our dresser.

I tore open the envelope and unfolded the note. Folded within was a smaller envelope which tumbled onto the dresser. I paid it no mind, anxious for Carmen's words.

_My dearest,_

_I have flown to Denali to be with the family for the wedding. I hope this finds you well and able to join us when you return. _

_Yours,_

_Carmen_

My attention flashed to the smaller envelope, addressed to Carmen and I, postmarked almost two weeks ago from Denali. It was a wedding invitation for Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan.

I didn't bother packing. The wedding was _today_. In less than one hour. Grabbing the walking stick slash serpent god, I rushed back to San Pau de Camp as the sun climbed its way towards early morning. With any luck, there would be a portal very close to a certain wedding ceremony.

)()(

Santiago sat in front of a panel of monitors, all showing live footage from various strategic angles in Eleazar's house. He had installed the cameras over almost two weeks ago at Sulpicia's bequest. Santiago was relieved the fool had finally come home and taken the bait. Mistress would be so pleased. Now things were finally getting interesting. He rewound the footage and watched again how the traitorous, thieving rat ran through his house in such a horrid panic looking for his mate.

Muffled groans sounded behind him. He pushed himself away from his spying station to check on the beautiful Catalonian vampire chained to his Mistress's wall. Despite her bonds, she was treated very well and force-fed daily. Mistress was very firm on these instructions – Carmen Morales was to be kept healthy and unmarred.

"Such concern for you, everyone has. Especially your Eleazar. If he only knew where you really were..." Santiago stroked her cheek as she seethed and railed against her enchanted restraints.

The crackle and hiss of the fire pit Santiago's Mistress used as a travel portal drew Carmen's gaze, her eyes widening in horror when she realized Sulpicia was returning. Sulphur and blood stained the atmosphere with the heady notes of death and destruction as Sulpicia appeared out of the haze and into Carmen's reality.

More like nightmare. Half of Sulpicia's face was badly burned and her clothing hung in bloody tatters. The dust of crushed stone powdered her hair so that it was streaked with white like the crone witches of fairytale.

"Oh god..." Carmen whispered.

"God is dead." Sulpicia hoisted an object into the air, shaking it with barbaric pride. Clutched in her fist by its hair was a head, but not one Santiago recognized. Were there more Ourosbouros brethren than just Eleazar left? Not that it mattered, as whomever it was, they were no longer a threat.

Sulpicia stalked over to them, swinging the head as she came. She placed her gory trophy at eye level with Carmen.

"Do you think the Cullens would approve of my wedding gift? I _so_ want to impress, and buying from the registry is so..._passe._ I can't think of many couples who have ever received the head of a god for a gift. Can you?"

"_The head of a god?!"_ thought Santiago. His Mistress certainly had been busy.

Horrified, Carmen struggled to back up, having nowhere to go. If she could melt into the wall, Santiago had no doubt she would.

"Too much? Oh well, I guess there is always the gravy boat."

Carmen whimpered and closed her eyes.

Tossing the head dispassionately onto the floor, Sulpicia frowned down at her apparent disarray. "Oh, yes, I must look dreadful. Certainly can't go to such a _blessed_ event like this. First impressions and all. You know the family well, what would _you_ wear?"

Sulpicia drew in closer to Carmen, who shook her head back and forth and whispered, " I don't know."

"Don't know?" Santiago's Mistress inhaled the mixture of fear and anger rolling off Eleazar's mate, revelling in its potency. "Or don't care to tell me?"

"Both, you bitch. Burn in hell."

Carmen opened her eyes and blasted Sulpicia with such defiance and hatred, Santiago thought she would burn off what was left of his goddess's face. Santiago soon realized however, that his Mistress though burned, was certainly not beaten.

"That's what I love, Santiago. The fire, right up until the end. Adds spice. "

Quicker than even Santiago could track, Sulpicia forced herself upon Carmen for a soul sucking kiss, swallowing the captive vampire's screams like a delicious aperitif.

Santiago watched with amazement as Carmen's entire body began to dehydrate and darken while his Mistress drew the vampire's life force into her own body. The consumption of it healed and transformed Sulpicia into the exact likeness of Eleazar's wife.

Backing away from the blackened shell of her victim Sulpicia ran her hands over her new, naked form, seemingly pleased with it.

"Mmmm... lovely body. Such a sin to not know how to clothe it. Santiago, is it still out of fashion to wear black to a wedding?"

"I'm sure my Mistress can wear whatever she desires."

A bored sigh sifted from her beautiful, pouty lips. "Yes, but I wouldn't want to upstage the bride. After all it is _her_ day."

The laughter that rang from his Mistress rustled the brittle husk on the wall, causing it to break apart flying about the room like drifting ash until all that remained of Carmen Morales was a carbon imprint on the wall.


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N - Five months. That is a hella long time. But in that time, I have literally moved mountains...cleaning out 6.2 metric tonnes of crap (that's just the stuff that went in the dumpster) from my mother's house as we finally sold it this summer. This of course induced whittling the summer away house-mining so I could make room for the stuff we wanted to keep. I apologize once again for my hiatus, but I am here to finish this story. I really appreciate the continued support of my loyal readers and welcome with open arms our new ones. ~waves to Nic~ Thank you so much! _

_My never ending gratitude also needs to be extended to TwiliteAddict for editing this chapter and "re-arranging the furniture". Much more Feng Shui! Xo _

_Let's jump right in shall we? Next update in two weeks. Maybe less. I'm on a writing roll. We pick up the story in Denali, a few short hours before Bella and Edward's wedding._

* * *

"_Edward, nooooooo! Get out!_" Alice's scream reverberated throughout the house, eventually escaping out the chimney, undoubtedly frightening all of the wildlife within a fifty-mile radius. Weddings were serious business to Alice Cullen, and she most definitely came to play. In fact, the whole house was hopping to her orders, thankful her two-week reign of _unholy_ matrimonial terror would come to an end today – our wedding day.

I instinctively hid behind one of the mirrors Alice had set up in our bedroom for the final fitting of my wedding dress. The day had been a blur of activity administering to the last minute details, and I was admittedly a little shell-shocked, so when she screeched, I scampered for cover.

For someone who could see the future, you would think Alice would have seen him coming, but that just went to prove how distracted she was now that it was coming down to zero hour.

Not in a place of understanding or compromise with his sister right now, however, was Edward. His facial expression left no doubt he was most definitely done being patient with his obsessive compulsive and according to him, "absurdly superstitious" sister.

"Alice, it's _just_ a wedding dress..."

"_JUST A WEDDING DRESS?!"_ We all screeched in highly offended unison, after all, the masterpiece of a dress was the result of stunning design collaboration by Esme, Rose and Alice.

Edward's face blanked in fear at the fuming, indignant women staring across the room at him. I tried hard not to snicker as he backed slowly out of the doorway and closed the door. About two beats later, Jasper slipped in the room quietly, a polite nod our way accompanied by his old fashioned greeting, "Ladies." He floated to the closet and freed Edward's tux from its confines before disappearing behind the door like he had never been here. Smart man.

Really, Edward should have expected nothing less. After we delivered our news to the family, my soon to be sister in law plopped down a twenty-pound scrapbook full of swatches, magazine clippings and storyboards, yes, _storyboards_ of what the ceremony was to look like. Her concept was everything I could have wanted in a wedding, but would never have the guts to imagine, let alone pull off, so she got full green light go-ahead on Wedding Planner rights.

Though a tad frightening at times, she had managed to herd us all into action to get it all done, including my quickie divorce – sending Jake and Leah happily back to La Push to make their own wedding plans. As much as they wanted to stay for my wedding, they wanted to leave and begin their own lives even more. I completely understood.

Finally daring to inch out from behind the mirror, I smoothed my hands over the gorgeous silk material that made up my gown and took stock of my reflection in the mirror. _Just a wedding dress._ "Just" was not a qualifier for this dress. Rose, Esme and Alice smiled and sighed simultaneously behind me as they admired their work.

"He'll eat those words when he sees you, Bella." Rose placated. "You are stunning."

I had to agree, which did not bode well for my Modesty, who was raising an appraising, judgmental eyebrow in assessment of the daring design. The dress was backless to show off my wings. While I was proud to show them off, the dip of the backless design dove deep enough for me to question my pride and prejudice.

Around the edges of the dress, Esme had hand-painted the silk material in complementary incendiary colors to my wings, as if they had dusted the edges of my dress like a butterfly shedding delicate scales. Carnelian and citrine beads of varying shades were sewn in such a way to indicate licks of fire winding around my body before cooling into white Quartz crystal beading which made up the bodice. The weight of the bodice alone would have been ridiculous for my human self—this was not a gown for a mortal woman.

Esme was positively radiating maternal pride, looking as if she could cry as she whispered reverently,

"Oh, honey, when the candles are burning and the light reflects off the dress, everyone will think you are an angel."

"Esme...," I protested, "I'm certainly no angel."

"But you are, my darling. Angels are avengers. You have saved my son... no, _my entire family_ more times than I can count and in more ways than you realize. You have avenged the cruelty perpetuated towards your race and mine at the cost of your own human life. You have a divine purpose. Some of the most powerful angels are the deadliest of warriors, Isabella."

Now it was my turn to look as if I could cry. Standing there in a gown which weighed a couple hundred pounds due to the crystals she had sewn on by hand for me was hardly weight to bear in comparison to her love for me and her family. And I would carry the weight of the world itself for her.

Since there were no words to convey as the surging emotion had forced me mute, I gathered my mother in my arms and hugged her, being careful not to crush her too hard against the gemstones of my dress. Alice and Rose joined in. I gained so much energy from the love of these three women, I could actually feel the frequency of their emotion pour into the receptive crystals of my wedding dress as if empowering it. In fact, I had no doubt it was. Crystals had been used since the beginning of time by shamans and healers to heal and uplift the physical and spiritual self.

Alice broke up the group hug with a proclamation that everyone had to clear out so I could finish getting ready.

"You mean I'm not ready?" I snarked, giving a coquettish turn in front of the mirrors.

Alice smiled warmly, "You look amazing, but I thought maybe you would like some meditation time." Her voice sounded small and hesitant, probing to make sure she wasn't being presumptuous or inappropriate. I was genuinely touched at her thoughtfulness.

"I could very much use some meditation time. It's hard getting used to not sleeping, let alone not dreaming. I knew you would understand that." My assurance made her beam with happiness.

"In one hour, you are officially going to be a Cullen," she chirped.

"Pfffft," Rose snorted and hitched her thumb towards her sister, "I have one better,. In one hour, _Commandant Wedding Coordinator _here is officially not in charge anymore. I'm outtie, Dollies. I have to help Em get into his tux. And maybe out of it a few times." With a saucy waggle of her eyebrows, Rose sashayed towards the door. "See you at the altar, Bells."

Alice rolled her eyes and quipped with a huff, "She's forgetting about the reception. Does she think these things just run themselves? Honestly!" Blowing me a kiss, she and Esme ushered out to leave me to my own devices.

I decided to leave the dress on, not being the easiest thing to get in and out of. I was plenty comfortable and the fainting couch was as nice a spot as any to meditate. Laying a blanket over the leather, for fear of scratching it, I focused on the sounds of the water feature in the room, pictured the rivulets running along the stone responding to the pull of gravity. The delicate slapping sounds as the drops plummeted into the pool below sang a hypnotic hymn.

My thoughts drifted to Edward...there was no fighting it. Though the purpose of meditation was to empty one's mind, he was completely ingrained into my thought processes today. I imagined it was because I had to go most of the day without seeing him – which was incredibly odd since this was the most binding day of our lives. I knew our separation would make it all the more sweeter when I saw him at the altar, but I felt anxious when he wasn't by my side. In the end, I decided to simply go with the direction my subconscious was pointing me in, and visualized my lover.

Blending the water sounds into my vision gave it depth, not to mention a common anchor between this world and the next. Still, I floated weightlessly in a space not quite here and not quite there…

_We walked hand in hand by a shining lake. The sunlight reflected in crystalline winks on the lake's surface and my lover's skin. We looked over towards the center of the lake to see a small island in the distance. Ruins of stone pillars beckoned from among the island's trees, inciting Edward's curiousity even more. _

"_Let's go for a swim and check it out!" his eyes were playful as he pulled me towards the water. _

"_But it's going to rain!" I protested as I took in the ever-blackening sky. The strange thing was, there were no clouds present. The sun was waning like someone using a dimmer switch to lessen its light._

_Edward didn't seem concerned at all. I think perhaps this alarmed me more than our ever-darkening surroundings. _

"_You're going to get wet anyway, come on...those ruins have to be ancient." He craned his neck to see them better as he continued to pull on me. "Aren't you the least bit curious?" _

_I pulled him back towards me. "We should go back, Edward. __I__ have a horrible feeling about all this." Panic ping-ponged around in my guts. Our dreamworld's sun had suddenly vanished. The lake lost her diamond luster and began to churn whitecaps across her surface instead. _

"_Where's your sense of adventure?" he teased. He looked past me and his expression became emotionless. Haunting. _

"_Besides, there's nothing to go back to..."_

_My head jerked to look back from where we had walked from to see desolation was devouring the scenery behind us! The grass was dried up; flowers were turning into husked remnants of their former glory. A sickness had taken over the land and was running like a snag in a nylon stocking streaking towards us. Shocked our peaceful jaunt was clearly not going to the happy place I intended it to, I could not move even though Edward was pulling me forward with all his strength._

_My hesitation proved devastating. That was all it took for the spreading sickness to reach him. _

_Touching the edge of his feet, I could see the sickness eating like an acid at the outside of his shoes. _

_His screams sounded in my ears as the evil licked its way up my lover's legs. He crumbled and we both went down on the ground. The fall jarred me free of the frozen state of shock, and I picked Edward up off the ground and ran towards the lake. My legs felt like lead, like I was running under water and getting nowhere. You always hear of this happening to people in their dreams, yet nothing can prepare you for the terror when you have no control over yourself or your reality…_

_But wait, I could…should be able to control this. It was __**my**__ vision! Yet, I couldn't shake it free, change its course, or rise above it. In dread, I came to realize if I was unable to take control of this vision, it had to be some sort of veiled message sent to me from the gods. But why was I now being beaten over the head with my biggest fear – losing Edward - on the most important day of our lives?_

_I looked down at my diseased lover. The most important thing I could ever lose, wasting away with sickness and fever, mouthing my name with dry, cracked lips._

"_Isabella!" _

_I finally made it to the water's edge and jumped in, praying this was the solution to our escape, to allow me save him. _

_Of course, it wasn't._

_The "water" was definitely not of the H__2__O variety, but a pool of memories. Beneath the illusion of the surface was a mist full __writhing, wraith-like forms weaving __around our bodies and absorbing into our skin! The hurt and despair vibrating through these ghostly visions, washing through Edward and I was excruciatingly painful. So much tragedy, loss, and heartbreak. I could not fathom how he could handle the emotional rape of it all in his already vulnerable state. Though his lips didn't move, I heard him call my name…_

"Isabella!"

Strong hands gripped my shoulders yanking me out of the roiling mist. Edward was no longer in my arms. I whipped around ready to clock whoever took him from me – only to see Alice, standing in front of me with the most pissed off expression I hoped _never_ to see on my sweetheart of a sister again. In fact, I would have backed off, but she reached out lightning quick to grab me.

"Don't you dare back up or you will end up in the damn pool again. What in fresh hell would possess you to jump in and wade around in the pool with your wedding dress on?" she spat.

I looked down at to see my gorgeous dress sopping wet up to the knees as I stood in a _very real_ pool of water.

_Just great._

Alice, meanwhile, went straight to work, fussing and fretting around the bottom of my dress. Directing me over towards the fireplace, she zipped around like an angry hummingbird fetching towels to blot out most of the moisture before dragging me to a bathroom to begin drying it with a hairdryer.

In those few moments of furious activity, I tried to explain to my sister what had come over me without sounding like the whack-a-do I'm sure I looked like.

_Yeah. That's not going to happen. _I sighed and took the most direct route to damnation.

"I'm sorry. I had a vision. Edward was dying."

She stopped everything that she was doing and looked up at me with such guilt and horror in her eyes I had to look away.

"Oh, Bella, honey. I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how much that...no, I don't need to imagine, I've seen it myself. Dear God." She folded me into her arms and rocked me back and forth while I tried to process everything that had just happened.

Of course that wasn't going to happen either. So I began to sob. There was no other release that would have sufficed.

Once I got myself together, and broke from Alice's much needed hug, I fluttered my hands in front of me in an effort to disperse the negativity messing with my emotional balance.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Alice asked hesitantly.

"Not right now. It's too fresh. I'm pretty sure the message intended more layers of meaning beyond the experience itself. Visions are kinda like onions in that way."

"I guess the only experience I have with visions is what actually takes place – or could take place. What you experience though … They have all sorts of hidden meanings you have to decipher." Alice shook her head in commiseration. "I don't envy you in that. Though some visions I've seen are not pretty, at least nothing is hidden from me." She finished up the last of her efforts on my poor dress and stepped back.

"There. All dry." Looking down at her watch she frowned slightly. "And not a minute to spare!"

I hated to ask, but I was, if anything, a sucker for punishment. Visions can be rather disorienting time frame wise and I had no idea how long I had been wading around in the bedroom's water treatment.

"What do you mean? What time is it?"

"Time to go marry Edward Cullen, my darling dear."

Hustling me towards the door, I broke free and backtracked to the mirror for one last peek and primp, which was completely unnecessary because, let's face it, the dress was fabulous and since my new birth, I've never looked better without make up. I turned slowly and knew with absolute certainty Edward would be pleased. Alice smiled indulgently. She remembered well the days of tyranny and oppression my modesty and insecurity wreaked upon my sexuality by robbing me of my confidence.

I felt the electric charges of excitement build in my body, warming me all over.

_I was getting married!_

A wedding has long been an important right of passage and though I already had a wedding when I married Jacob, my feelings regarding my marriage to Edward were obviously very different and much more intense. I would describe them as Sacred. For one, I never dreamed I would be able to share this important ritual with Edward and declare our love and completion to each other in front of all who would listen. I was not the least bit nervous about getting up in front of others to do this either. Professing my love for Edward in front of our friends and family was simple compared to the risks I would take to protect him from my enemies.

I thought idly of the old Christian vow we had decided not to use: "What God has put together, let no man put asunder." I now wondered if we had made a right choice in removing it. That horrible vision confirmed my enemies knew harming Edward could immobilize me with pain and suffering, giving them an advantage. I needed to prove them wrong. Make it clear if anyone dared take him from me, they would suffer the full extent of my wrath.

_Sulpicia can wield her worst. My dedication to protect Edward and the Source will never waiver._

Somehow, I knew this would be the most important vow I made today.

"Are you ready, Isabella?"

"More than you could ever know, Alice."

* * *

Next chapter is the wedding, which is half written and to be posted within the next two weeks.

Thanks for checking in and please review and say hello!


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: ** _I'm really late with this, and I'm really sorry. I hope you all enjoy the wedding._

_Never-ending thanks to TwiliteAddict for precise editing and excellent additions. Future Imperfect, TwiliteAddicts recently completed fanfiction has placed in the top ten fanfics completed for the month of October by TWILITEFANFICTIONRECSDOTCOM. Voting is up until December 1, make sure to check them out!_

* * *

Today was the day. Every decision and every breath I had taken brought me to this moment of clarity. Today I was to be bound in matrimony to the one who had been created for me.

Approaching the large, open French doors to the grounds, I took my first look at the magical scene I would walk into, eventually shedding the last name of Swan to take on my new identity as a Cullen.

Fire and Ice was the theme we had all agreed upon for our wedding. Though I had seen Alice's vision of the event explicitly laid out in her scrapbook, and participated heavily in the preparation, I never dreamed the completed transformation of the Denali grounds could be so dramatic. Consumed with the effort to rush me along to the ceremony, I had to slow Alice down a bit so I could just drink in the wonder she had helped create for Edward and me.

Since fall had come late this year, the trees still gripped leaves flamed with fiery autumnal shades. Alice had not been pleased with the yellowing of the grass, so she decided to bring in some snow. Though I offered to make her some, she decided to rent snow making machines, which had run all last night and today. To be honest, I was glad she declined my offer because the surprise of seeing the snow where yesterday there was none added more magic to the moment without having to use any of my own power to do so. The juxtaposition of all the soft white on the ground with the riot of reds, yellows and oranges above was striking. The gracious timing Alice worked out with Mother Nature had her putting the sun to bed, washing the sky in pinks and gold which flooded the thin crispy leaves with the last of its light, making them glow like pulsing stars. I knew once twilight settled and the sun's light was finished, Alice would turn on the thousands of mini lights she had threaded through the trees lining the property. The effect would be much softer, but no less beautiful.

We had chosen to have the ceremony amongst a grove of sugar maples Tanya had planted years ago. They were incredibly full with bright orange leaves, crowning the clearing in an illusion of fire. For our vows, Emmett made an archway with lattice work that Tanya and her sisters filled with red roses. Alice had this lit up as well. The warmth of the lights must have provoked the roses to release their perfume; the air was so thick with their old fashioned fragrance.

"What do you think Bella?" Alice asked quietly after a minute of my overwhelmed silence.

"I think I'm extremely blessed to have you create such a beautiful setting for our vows. It's like a dream, Alice. Thank you. All of you." Standing before me in their apple-red dresses and lipstick, Esme, Alice and Rose, the three women I admired and loved most in this world closed in for a group hug before taking their places to walk down the aisle.

I looked past the backs of the guests sitting in the white, silk covered chairs Esme had finished off with large red bows at the back, searching for Edward. But just when I caught a glimpse of him, the guests saw me and all stood in unison, obscuring my view of my husband-to-be.

Centering myself with the assured knowledge he would be at the end of the aisle waiting for me, I nodded my head to Alice indicating I was ready. She gave a visual cue the conductor of the small ensemble who began to play our wedding march – "Be Thou My Vision," a traditional Irish tune Edward had chosen in memory of his deceased parents, Elizabeth and Edward Mason. Played at their own wedding in 1899**,** it was one of the first songs his mother ever taught him on piano.

The bittersweet strains of the song made my heart ache to see him, but I took my time walking down the aisle, following my beautiful bridesmaids, their light steps barely bruising the soft white rose petals peppered across the scarlet runner. Aware in my peripheral vision of all eyes on me, I knew from what my ancestral spirits taught me that I should welcome this well-meaning energy my way. So I did just that. Instead of feeling nervous and embarrassed like the younger version of me did walking down the aisle to Jacob so many years ago, I felt empowered with the love of friends and family as I marched down the aisle to my destiny.

_Edward. _

Finally I could see my husband to be. The sun was setting directly behind him, and his head was encircled with its light, making the dark copper of his hair burn with brassy tones of red and gold. He looked so regal in his black tuxedo, standing amongst his brothers. His smile was brighter than any light the sun could throw, and I found myself quickening my pace to reach him. To be one with him for all time.

**) () (**

Isabella was a vision of mystical transcendence. I now understood the power and magic of the dress. The last of the suns rays crept down the aisle, finding their way into the crystalline beads of Isabella's gown, causing it to it shimmer then blaze with unearthly illumination. I had no doubt Alice planned the timing of the sunset for the effect as I recalled her being quite insistent on the position of the aisle and the timing of the wedding march. Alice winked at me as she passed by on her way to her seat in the front row with the rest of our wedding party her all knowing, smug smile firmly in place.

Rainbows of refracted light flickered in and out of existence as Bella moved toward me. My heart swelled with so much love for this creature I thought it would come out of my chest and begin beating at her very feet when she reached me. I had to keep myself from rushing to her, wanting to burst out of my skin just to touch hers. I did my best to block out the thoughts of our rightly stunned guests, but the reactions to my bride were almost as severe as mine. The most prevalent question on everyone's mind, but thankfully not their lips, was the same question Isabella struggled with every hour since her birth:

"_What is she?" _

"_Mine" _I wanted to shout this affirmation from the highest point of Mount McKinley, challenging anyone or anything who would say different. I began to heat up with overprotective notions, wondering how long it would be before Jasper hit me with one of his horse tranquilizer, emotion-dampening vibes when Isabella smiled at me, mouthing the words "I love you." before she came to a stop in front of me. I reached for her hand and brought it to my lips, whispering the same over her skin and feeling the warm rush of calm now that she was finally by my side.

We both turned to face our friends and family, deciding not to have our backs to them as we dedicated our lives to each other. Bella insisted upon allowing ourselves to be fully open to the happiness sent forth in smiles and silent well-wishes of everyone in attendance. Invitations had been sent out to covens all over the world, from England to the Amazon. Most who came, despite the short notice, were not so much curious to lay eyes on the woman who stole my heart, but to behold the powerful witch who defeated the Volturi army. Given the entrance Alice staged for Isabella's march down the aisle, I'd say the idea that she made an impression was a gross understatement.

Carlisle stood up from his chair at the front and moved to the front left of the aisle once the ensemble finished the wedding march dedication to my parents. Though I wished they could lived to see me marry the love of my life, I was at peace because I could fully appreciate how blessed I was to have the family before me. Esme and Carlisle had given me the guidance and love my parents would have been proud of.

"Welcome, everyone," Carlisle began, his pride and joy obvious in his face and words. "This evening we gather beneath this grove of maples to witness the joining of twin flames, Isabella and Edward. My own soul mate, and the compassionate center wheel of our coven, Esme, would like to share her thoughts on this blessed union...Esme?"

Esme beamed happily as she passed her bouquet to Rose Esme had made all of them out of the antique brooches she had collected over the many years of her afterlife and told the ladies to keep them as mementos of our family finally being whole. I had made sure that all of my own mother's brooches were placed within Isabella's bouquet. She had been thrilled with my offering of them.

She walked up and kissed Isabella and me both on the cheek before she stood beside Carlisle and addressed the guests,

"I have a confession to make. There was a time I nearly gave up hope Edward would find his true love. My heart would ache listening to the loneliness that poured from him onto the pages of his piano compositions. I will never forget the day the music changed. It was the day Isabella came into his life after endless decades of longing and waiting. The seeming eternity he spent waiting for her vanished, only to be replaced by the forever he will spend loving her. Lady Jane Fellowes said it best, '

_Time is too slow for those who wait; too swift for those who fear; too long for those who grieve; too short for those who rejoice. But for those who love, time is eternity.'"_

Heads in the audience nodded in agreement with the wise words. She then turned and spoke directly to Isabella and me,

"I love you both so much, and my heart is full knowing you are both blessed with an eternity to share your love and devotion for each other. I can't think of two souls who deserve it more."

She blew us a kiss and returned to her position as bridesmaid while everyone applauded..

Jasper, sidled up next to Carlisle and cleared his throat as the clapping died down Everyone's attention focused on the once infamous General of a rogue vampire army. Jasper was known not to mince words, which kept him from speaking often. When he did – people listened.

"Being able to feel emotion as I do, I remember well the dark gloom Edward's singularity stained him with. I did what I could to augment his moods, but I knew my talents were no where near the type of miracle he needed. When Bella came into our lives, it was a complete reversal of emotional polarity. In fact, for the first few days, I felt like I was drugged as the switch in my brother was so drastic. I watched with amazement as his interest in this young, but infinitely wise woman shape him into something more solid as opposed to the solitary ghost dancing for decades along the edges of our unique coven of coupled units. I also watched as Isabella's love for Edward and for our family transformed her into a badass case of comeuppance, smiting Oppression once and for all. And that is when I believed there was magic in love. If it can transform a soul, think of what it can do to a nation of souls. Why stop there? Think of what it can do to the entire planet. The old regimes are breaking down. We stand upon the precipice of deciding what kind of world we want to live in. I, for one, choose love, my friends. I found this quote from Abdul Baha, which I think encapsulates this age old wisdom concerning the power of love:

"_Let us have love and more love; a love that melts all opposition, a love that conquers all foes, a love that sweeps away all barriers, a love that aboundeth in charity, a large-heartedness, tolerance, forgiveness and noble striving, a love that triumphs over all obstacles."_

Jasper's days as a general inspiring his troops for battle trumpeted through his rousing delivery, motivating the audience to surge to their feet in solidarity, a standing ovation thundered throughout the small enclosure like a battle cry. Isabella leaned against my shoulder and wrapped her arm around my waist for a squeeze as she was so overcome with emotion from our brother's speech. The air was ringing with the applause and shouts of support long after the guests took their seats.

The sun had finally disappeared over the horizon behind us and the twinkling mini lights flickered amongst the trees like diamonds. Carlisle stood alone, chuckling softly to himself before he spoke,

"That's a hard act to follow." Laughter filtered through the crowd like a wave in response to Carlisle's charming self-deprecation. "But I have an ace up my sleeve. I get the distinct privilege to marry these two wonderful people. In my centuries of existence, I have witnessed many acts of unconditional love. One brought Edward into my life. I was in Chicago during the outbreak of the Spanish Influenza which claimed hundreds of souls in the fall of 1918. Edward and his entire family had been admitted. His father, God rest his soul, perished first. Elizabeth Mason was determined to her last breath to see Edward survive even though she knew their chances were bleak. Somehow, Elizabeth figured out exactly what I was, telling me that no human doctor could tend to as many sick as tirelessly and tremendously as I had. She then begged me to save her son from death. I had never considered siring another, but the depth of love and selfless devotion Edward's mother gave so freely to him, even in her weakest moments, stirred something within me- so I granted her dying wish."

Carlisle looked back at me. We had talked extensively over the years about my parents as Carlisle did not want my human memories to fade, knowing how loved and cherished I was by both of them. He thought it important that I remember I came from love. Despite his best intentions, my self-pity took control of my ego, and I forgot this important lesson during some very dark moments in my life. It was because of Carlisle's unconditional love as my Sire, that despite my darker nature bleeding through the pristine whitewashed future my mother would have wanted for me, I found my way back to him and the supportive safety of our coven. His reminder of the power of love was most appropriate in this moment.

" Edward. When I see you with Isabella, I know my prayers and your mother's prayers to know the blessing of true love have been answered." Carlisle walked over and hugged both Isabella and me. I shuddered to think of the debt I owed this man for extending my life so that I could be here now, marrying the woman of my dreams.

"Thank you, Father."

"You are welcome, Son."

Emotion coursed between us, riding on many years of mutual respect and familial devotion.

Turning back to the guests, Carlisle reached into his inside breast pocket and pulled out a scroll of white paper tied with a red bow. I knew this to be an "Alice Aesthetic" as opposed to functional because with Carlisle's memory, he certainly didn't need a cheat sheet.

"Edward and Isabella have put aside traditional vows and chose an excerpt from Kahlil Gabran's _The Prophet_ to represent what they believed their commitment to each other meant. In this section of the Gabran's book, the Seeress Almitra was asking the Prophet his thoughts on marriage. This was his response:

'_You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore._

_You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days._

_Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God._

_But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you._

_Love one another, but make not a bond of love:_

_Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls._

_Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup._

_Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf._

_Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music._

_Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping._

_For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts._

_And stand together yet not too near together:_

_For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.'"_

Emmett came forward to give us the rings. With a grin and a flash of dimples, he patted his pockets and tried to make like he didn't have them. Judging from the looks Rose and Bella zinged his way, he decided not to push the joke too far. Pulling them out of his back pocket with a grand flourishing gesture, he evoked some laughter from the guests with his cliché chicaneries. Bella rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't erase the smile off her face if she tried. Taking my hand and sliding the gold circlet onto my finger, her voice shook a little as she delivered her chosen vow, courtesy of Milton:

"_Our State cannot be severed, we are one, One Flesh; to lose thee were to lose my self."_

I reached for her left hand and repeated the iconic ritualistic gesture that bound one life to another, reciting C.S Lewis,

"_I came alive, when I started loving you."_

Golden tears pearled at the corners of her eyes as I leaned in to kiss my bride. Lips tasting of honey and promises of forever meld to mine as the world slipped away in a chorus of cheers, wolf whistles and applause from our guests.

) () (

I was finally Isabella Marie Cullen.

Carlisle's sure, strong voice rose above the crowd and declared us officially as husband and wife once we finally broke from our kiss and faced everyone. Showers of white and red rose petals feathered from above, and a joy I had never known bubbled up within me. Edward felt it, too; his face lit up with elation. Hand in hand we walked down the aisle amidst clapping, smiling, rejoicing loved ones. Most of these people I had never met, yet their support and love was sent and received regardless. I'm sure my feet barely touched the ground on the way to the reception.

The reception area was like a winter wonderland tucked to the left of the Sugar Maple grove. I was really impressed with the dance floor as it looked like a small frozen pond, but was actually just treated Lucite flooring Alice had custom made. Icicles hung from the tables and tree boughs, while cardinal flashes of colour to represent fire were incorporated in the crimson floral arrangements and scarlet table linens. Everywhere you looked were candles stacked and glowing, the perfect accompaniment to the pale wash of moonlight.

"Alice really outdid herself."

Edward nodded in agreement with me, then pointed towards the small stage set to the side of the dance floor for the band. "Wait until you hear what Rose has planned."

I looked over to see Rose taking the microphone center stage. Her red gown, bright lipstick, and Veronica Lake inspired hairdo sent her seamlessly back in time as a torch song crooner from the fifties. My mouth dropped open. I had no idea my sister could sing.

Or that Emmett could play stand up base.

Edward delighted in my surprise, grinning from ear to ear as he nodded to Rose and swept me onto the dance floor with the timed grace of a professional ballroom dancer. The band began to play "Unforgettable" and Rose sang it as if Nat King Cole wrote it specifically for her voice. Edward led me effortlessly around the dance floor as if we had practisedpracticed the steps for weeks.

"In the late forties and early fifties, Rose and Emmett broke from the family for a little while to tour with a big band orchestral outfit who got a lot of gigs in Manhattan, but eventually Rose tired of the scene and the greasy men who wanted to manage her career.

I could see how singing in nightclubs would appeal to Rose, but I could also appreciate the dangers of the sharks in the burgeoning entertainment industry salivating to sign a beauty like her. The danger, of course, was Rose, not the men. She could certainly handle herself. That was probably the problem. Hard to keep it secret you are a vampire if you leave a trail of bodies behind you - even if they were ass .

"Well, I'm impressed. I had no idea I was marrying into such a talented family."

"You haven't seen anything yet. Wait until you meet the extended cousins in the other covens. Many of them have hidden their powers from those outside our circle for fear of the Volturi. That's why it didn't surprise me when you told me about Eleazar Morales affiliation as a double agent with the OurosBouros and his role in siring Xandru. In fact, he and his wife Carmen should be here tonight..."

"Really? I would very much like to meet Xandru's sire and last surviving member of the Ourosbouros! Edward, he could probably help us find The Source, not to mention help us to learn as much as we can about Sulpicia."

We both looked around, and even though I'd never met him, I was sure I would know him, trusting so solidly in the connection he had with Xandru. Edward's lead in our waltz became more aggressive, covering more floor space with powerful long strides, pushing us around the room easily, but all we saw was the dizzying rush of happy faces as they watched us. Disappointment made his face fall when he concluded Eleazar could not be in the crowd.

"Maybe he's just late." I offered. I could tell there was something deeper bothering Edward than just not being able to find him. His body went a little stiff and his eyes held something I was not prepared for on my wedding day – fear.

"What's wrong, Edward?"

"Vampires don't do late, my love. What if Sulpicia found out Eleazar was Xandru's sire? That would make him a target for sure. Maybe Sulpicia hasn't come for us yet because she's been too busy finding out how Xandru betrayed her? Tanya did mention that Eleazar and Carmen have both been incommunicado for the past month, but assured me she express posted the invitation."

"Then maybe he just didn't get the invitation on time. Or maybe it was too short of notice..."

"Maybe..." Worry hung between us like an unspoken shame that we couldn't just relax and enjoy our first dance as husband and wife. The song came to a close and Edward drew me into a tight hug, whispering into my hair,

"It doesn't matter. I'm here with you. That's what matters. This moment."

I looked up at him and he kissed me so passionately, the moment froze, and I felt lost in the lips and tenderness of this man. I could hear the faint rumble of applause and the teasing clearing of a throat at a microphone.

Edward smiled against my lips. "Maybe we should, uh, actually acknowledge our guests..."

I sighed heavily in pure jest and peeked over his shoulder to see Jasper on stage, his tie already loosened and his eyebrow quirked skywards in mock judgement standing at the mike.

"If y'all can manage to keep your hands offa each other for a few minutes, a receiving line has been requested by said guests."

Everyone clapped and whistled in agreement, forming a neat queue, which moved along a lot quicker than I thought it would. I noticed right away those that drank human blood had difficulty making eye contact with me and would simply shake our hands, offer congenial congratulations and appreciation for the invite then move along. They seemed so surprisingly skittish and I had a hard time digesting the reason why. Edward had prepared me a few days ago for this type of behaviour. He said the news of what I did to the Volturi spread like wildfire and most of the blood drinkers who kept the Volturi code their entire lives were concerned I would kill them if they continued with their chosen lifestyle. Hopefully, these covens would learn this was not my way and spread this to the others. Others worried with the Volturi gone, the vacuum could be filled by an even greater evil. Unfortunately, that wasn't the part that bothered me – because I knew that vacuum was filled by Sulpicia, so no surprises there. However, when Edward proceeded to tell me that the blood drinking covens, who were brave enough to come see me, were doing so to plead their allegiance without actually coming right out and saying so.

Allegiance?! _To me?_

I tried not to think about the implications, ramifications, and subjugations of that statement, and focused on something else...like the very obvious representation of supernatural power at this party.

When a vampire with special talents stood before me, I would allow my vision to slip and their auras would reveal different shade gradients and undulations. I had been experimenting with this way of looking at the auras of vampires with special abilities versus those without in the company of my own family who ran the gambit nicely. It turned out those with extra talents displayed a vibratory field which most definitely resonated at a higher level than a regular vampire. I wondered idly if this had anything to do with how Eleazar sensed abilities and what they were within others. If it was like listening to music and picking out what tune went with which ability.

"All this power in the room, yet every single one of them would bow down to you in a heartbeat. How does that make you feel?"

A female voice with a thick Spanish accent brought me back from my wool gathering with her audaciously impertinent question. Did she really just say that to me? Standing in front of me was a tall, dark-haired woman with a self-assured smile. I could almost say cocky. There was also something in her tone that suggested something lying beneath her words – something dangerous.

_Who the hell did this woman think she was?_

"I beg your pardon?" I tried not to curl my lip at her. Really. I did Edward sensed my hackles going up, and with a nervous chuckle, presented his rude relation.

"Isabella, I'd like you to meet Carmen Morales. Eleazar's wife."


End file.
